Looking Back at 2008

One of the things about blogging that frustrates me is how little time my articles stay relevant. In order to keep readers coming, a blogger has to constantly produce new content. Otherwise, the discussion runs cold and people become bored. It is a shame that this happens, becuase often an article I write gets pushed off the front page with a week, never to be seen again.

Well, as I look back over 2008, I thought I might resurrect a few of my favorite articles. So here, presented in chronological order, are links to what I feel are my 10 best posts of 2008. It was hard deciding on just 10, but you can always go to the archives if you want to dig deeper. I hope you will enjoy the look back, and feel free to comment on them again!

Faith and Reason
Why I Am an Open Theist
Common Misconceptions About Open Theism
Confronting Pharisees
Has Anybody Seen My Pizza Bag?
A Telemarketer For God
Expectations, Judgements, Gossip and Living in Authenticity
3 Days, 36 hours, and $7,000 worth of pizza.
Black Cat Ministry
Time Is Relative, Sequence Is Not

Blog 10k

Well, I just received my 10,000th visit to my blog this year. Thanks to everyone who reads. More thanks to those who join in the discussion. It has been a lot of fun blogging this year... Let's see if I can double my readership in 2009.

Go Bungles!

Well, my beloved Bengals won for the third week in a row... They finished the season 4-11-1. Couple that with the Browns getting spanked by the Steelers today, and I get to relax this off season a bit... After all, the Bengals are not the worst team in the NFL... They are not even the worst team in Ohio!

Blog on Cruise Control

I think I have run out of ideas... a little help please...

The Miracle of Christmas

Emmanuel, God With Us!

And how does the Almighty appear?
What is the first glimpse we have of our God?












That is completely amazing to me.
What an awesome way to come.
Merry Christmas!

Property Laws of a Toddler

I ran across this a little while ago in some old sermon notes of mine. It made me laugh, so I thought I would share. The real question I have with it is how many of the laws extend past childhood? A few of them, I suppose!

Property Laws of a Toddler

1. If I like it, it's mine.
2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it's mine.
8. If I saw it first, it's mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it's broken, it's yours.

Best Fairy Tale

Is Religion Just Another Consumer Product?

A question for discussion:

Is religion just another consumer product?

And maybe a followup question:

Is the relevance of the church fatally tied to its acceptance in the marketplace?

Best Airline Safety Briefing

Well, we just got home from San Antonio, and on our last leg of the flight I heard the best safety briefing ever.

For those who don't fly often (or ever), the safety briefing is when the flight attendants go over all of the stuff that will save your life in the event of an emergency. For those of us who have flown before, it is easy to tune them out because, well, I already know how to buckle my seat belt and I figure I'd rather have a parachute under my seat then a floatation device.

I wish I had recorded the briefing because I will miss a ton of the stuff he said, but I am going to try and recall as much of it for you as I can because it was the first time in a while that I have paid attention and it was good stuff. So without further adieu, here was the safety briefing as best I can recall:

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying with us today. You will be pleased to know that you have the most famous aircrew in the sky. Lynn, in the front of the cabin is an honest to goodness beauty queen, a former Miss Georgia, and Sarah in the middle of the cabin was a Semi-finalist on Star Search. If you ask her to, she will be happy to entertain you with a song."

He then went through the seat belt part. After that is when it got entertaining.

"In a few moments, the cabin will become pressurized for your convenience. In the unlikely event of a loss of pressure, masks will drop down from the overhead compartment. Place the mask over your nose and mouth, adjust the straps, and then begin screaming. If you are traveling with small children, or people who act like small children, place your mask on first and then assist them. Parents, this is when you find out which child you love the most.

"In the event of a water landing, your seat will double as a flotation device. To use, place your arms through the straps and hug the cushion to your chest. Otherwise, you can watch as your seat floats way while you tread water.

"Smoking is not permitted while on board. The lavatories are equipped with smoke detectors and if you are caught smoking, you will be forced to share your cigarette with the flight crew. Actually, we will ask you to please finish your smoke outside on the wing, so as not to disturb the rest of our guests.

"Tampering with a lavatory smoke detector is a federal offense and carries with it a $2000 fine. And for that price, you could have flown Delta.

"Above you, you will find buttons for your light as well as a nozzle to adjust your air conditioning. If you attempt to turn on your light ant the button turns red and is followed by a 'Ding,' you have just activated your emergency ejection seat and have 5 seconds to turn it off before being jettisoned from the plane."

That was the gist of it... there was more funny stuff then I can recall right now. But it was quite entertaining. Plus, it served the purpose of getting everyone to pay attention.

Well, I am home now so I will try to be more punctual with my blog updates... Vacation is hard work!

Airspace Violation Protocol

Overheard conversation on the VHF Guard (emergency) frequency 121.5 MHz while flying from Europe to Dubai:

Air Defense Radar: 'Unknown aircraft at (location unknown), you are in Iranian airspace. Identify yourself.'

Aircraft: 'This is a United States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace.'

Air Defense Radar: 'You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft!'

Aircraft: 'This is a United States Marine Corps FA-18 fighter. Send 'em up, I'll wait!'

Air Defense Radar: (no response ... total silence)

Sing Along Time!

Sing with me if you know the tune!

"All my bags are packed I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin' it's early morn
The taxi's waitin' he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again"

Ok... that sounded terrible! You might need some lessons...

Anyways, it is almost 3 AM and after spending the last 2 hours trying to get my stupid wireless router to work (it is now, thanks for asking!), I am about to head off to bed. But I thought I would just drop a line to rub it in to all you northerners that this Sunday Luann and I are flying to Texas for a week of R&R at my dad's place. The high temperature on Sunday in Dayton is forcasted to be 28 degrees. In San Antonio, it is 72 degrees.

See ya suckers!

(Don't worry, I will take my laptop to Texas and will still be updating my blog...)

Great Quote

"Holy men? Holy cabbages! Holy bean-pods! What do they do but live and suck in sustenance and grow fat? If that be holiness, I could show you hogs in this forest who are fit to head the calendar. Think you it was for such a life that this good arm was fixed upon my shoulder, or that head placed upon your neck? There is work in the world, man, and it is not by hiding behind stone walls that we shall do it."

-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

December 2008's Funny Video

I don't have any Christmas videos, But this one is too funny... Enjoy!

Great Website

I was pointed to a great website for anyone who is an avid reader: bookmooch.com

On this site, you send your unwanted books to others who want them and earn points towards books that you want to read. The only cost is whatever it costs you to send a book to someone else. The books you request come free of charge.

This service is a GREAT idea. I signed up today and already have one book heading out and one book on its way. Give it a try and let me know what you think!