Question: Where Did He Go?

Answer: To work!

Sorry about the sad state of affairs here on my blog. Work is killing me! I just finished a 64 hour week and will probably be north of 50 again this week. The good news is, my checks are great. The bad news is I have no time to spend them!

My GM should be back to work in a week or two and I will be back to 35-40 hours a week then. Blogging is important to me, but sleep is winning out these days.

Stay tuned... not much longer and I will be writing again.

Difficult Passage

In Bible study today we came across this passage. I found it to be very difficult.

1 Samuel 16:14-23
14 Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. Saul's attendants said to him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better." So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me." One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him." Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep." So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him." Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

I then did a search and found another similar passage:

Judges 9:22-24
After Abimelech had governed Israel three years, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech. God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal's seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.

What are your thoughts about this? What does it mean that God seems to use evil to accomplish His purposes? These are not cases of God taking evil that humans have done and turning it for good. This seems to say that it is God himself who is using evil.

I have to admit, I am at a loss. It seems completely out of character for God as seen in Christ. Anybody want to try at an explanation? I am definitely giving this one some thought...

Now I Have Seen It All...

Luann and I finished pulling out all the ivy in our front yard today and planted grass seed. To reward ourselves, we decided to make a trip to Dairy Queen for some ice cream cones. On the way, I passed an 8-year old texting while riding his bike down the middle of the road. It was surreal.

Political Common Sense

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have.
-Thomas Jefferson

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Running the Store

Hi everybody.

Sorry I have not been writing much as of late. Stuff at work has me too tired at night to have any original thoughts...

My store manager is out on disability and they have assigned me the task of running the store until she gets back. I will be working 45-50 hours a week for the next few weeks (maybe more). It is a big job and when I get home at night I can't seem to find the energy to author new blog posts.

I will try to be more diligent in the future, but until then, say a prayer for my friend Shellan. She is dealing with a lot of pain and uncertainty right now.

Thanks!

What's Next?

Well, Luann and I had dinner with her parents today and talked about our future in ministry. I have been looking at a new possibility for ministry but have been reluctant to post anything about it until I was able to talk with all my different sets of parents about it. Now that they have all been let in on the gig, I thought I might post something about it here and get your opinions.

It is no secret to my readers that a new opportunity at a church has been less than forthcoming. I have pursued many different lines within the church: youth ministry, music ministry, lead pastoring, and starting a new church. But each of these avenues has led to a dead end or at least a clear feeling that it is not a right fit for us.

About three months ago I was searching job postings on a ministry site and came across a posting for the Army Chaplaincy Corps. The possibility had never really occurred to me while I was pastoring, but now that I am searching for a place to minister, chaplaincy seems to be a good fit. I have the needed education and experience, and the position offers a great deal of opportunity to minister to young men and women who are dealing with many eternal issues.

I am considering entering the Army Chaplaincy Candidate program, where I will have the opportunity to evaluate the chaplaincy through drill weekends and internships while I complete some additional schooling and complete the endorsement process through the Church of the Nazarene.

I am not sure if reserve chaplaincy or active duty would be the best fit for us, but I am definitely considering the possibilities.

So what are your thoughts on me going into the chaplaincy?

Headaches

I have had a headache all day and don't feel like going in to work... Anybody want to go deliver pizzas for me tonight?

Fan Vote

Tonight the NASCAR All-Star Race had a segment that allowed the fans to vote in a driver into the All-Star race. So I thought, hey, that is a neat idea for my blog. I thought I'd give my fans a vote too.

After 19 months I have yet to find a church to pastor and I guess it is time to make some permanent or semi-permanent career decision. So, how would you vote on this question:

If I am not able to pastor any longer, what should I do for a career?

1) Become a pizza store manager
2) Be a professional dog walker
3) Go back to school and become a lawyer
4) Flip houses
5) Start another lawn/landscape business
6) Other (please elaborate.)

Have fun with this! I need some good ideas so feel free to help a brother out!

Blog Privacy

Well, I decided that today was the day that I was going to make my blog private... But when I did, I was not happy with Google's method of privacy. There was no way for people to request permission to view the blog. I had to know who wanted access and invite them... and I know I have a lot of readers who I do not have email information for.

Plus, it made hcountryman.blogspot.com private, but allowed anyone access to heathcountryman.com. Some great privacy feature that is! So I have decided to leave my blog open to the public until I can find a better way to control access without just blocking out everyone.

So lieu of privacy, I have decided to place a disclaimer at the top of my blog. I doubt this will accomplish what I want it to, but maybe it will give people a moment of pause before the think they know all about me simply because they have read a collection of my thoughts.

I have given serious consideration to just deleting my blog altogether. But blogging is something I truly enjoy, and I guess I am just not ready to give it up. Besides, I have no direct proof that my blog has cost me any specific employment (suspicions are not proof), so I might be making a big deal out of nothing.

So for now, keep on enjoying my blog!