Christmas Card

'
(the time you pulled a knife on the neighbor, poked holes in aunt Hazel's chair)



(tried to off yourself and lived to tell about it)

Nothin says loving like a Christmas card from mom.










Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Prayer

I had my small group last night at my house and we were talking about prayer. We were searching through some passages where Jesus modeled prayer, He did it a little different than Jabez did, but good. Passage after passage shows Jesus going away from the noise and having real, intimate time with His Father. We saw Jesus travel up mountain sides, He fasted and prayed for 40 days, we saw Him pray all through the night without ceasing. We saw Him pray in happiness, in sadness, in pain, and in grief. No matter what Jesus was doing, He was spending that time with His Father. I wish I knew how to make that work for me. I wish I wasn't so selfish with my time. Jesus prays all through the night and I struggle with 20 minutes. I do not like that about me, it is a character flaw to be selfish and self serving. I try my best to pray every day as if it were a chore, but when things are going badly, I yearn for God, I pray out of necessity, not habit. I think in American churches, we need to NEED God. We are too comfortable here that we get lazy and forget that it is God that gives our every breath and it is God that takes it away. When we are in need, we pray, so I think we need to step out and put ourselves in need.







Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Oh Thank You Christmas Miracle Beard

Just when all seemed lost with the Miracle Beard, Jesus went and revived my faith in it again. I see the Beard as like the same as fasting. When you need something or are in dire need for God, you starve, maybe here you grow. Anyways, read this miracle that you can attribute to God first, then to the Beard.


A Christmas miracle: woman found alive after three days buried in a snowdrift
• Rescue dog picks up scent and gloveless hand in field
• Blanket of insulating snow kept her alive in -15C cold








http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/24/canada-missing-woman-found



Ridiculously awesome!












Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Eve

Busy, busy, busy says the little hack magician in Frosty The Snowman, just before the snowman started to melt. Well, I fear I have done it again. I fear I have caused all of the rain due to my Miracle Beard Campaign. 2 days ago, it was cold with snow dumping everywhere and elves on pogo sticks, then yesterday it begins to rain and doesn't stop until all is pure ice everywhere. Old ladys falling and breaking the hips, little children throwing ice balls at each other drawing a creek full of blood. Helpless people with arms full of freshly wrapped presents slipping and dashing those presents all over the ice ruining the wrap job ;-) Maybe Christmas Day will bring a steady flow of miracles as we have gathered more support than any other year. Christmas is not over, we must have faith I know, but my doubts cannot be pushed aside.

Anyway, busiest C. Eve I have ever had, but good. Everyone have a great Christmas!!!









Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Snow

Crap we got a lot of snow last night. It is nice though, but someone should tell Al Gore that the earth is not as warm as he thinks it is. I think the latest global warming forecast showed there would be a huge decrease in snow and an increase in rain this year. He should have to come and shovel for us, that would be an inconvenient truth right there. Then he could deal with shoveling out your driveway, then 5 minutes later the plow pushes the streets snow right back in.

In other news: Isn't this the scariest toy ever? Found this in the cushions of the couch.


Christmas is almost here, I am excited. Got my hopes up for a Christmas Miracle.




Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Sing Broken

Today, it is white everywhere. It is these days that I am glad I do not live in a warm climate. It is beautiful in Michigan right now.

A couple of things from my prayer life. I keep a journal and a checklist of things to pray for and today I rearranged it. I read in this book that the author prays sincerely for the most intimate conversation with God before he prays, so I thought I would do that to, because maybe that is why God seems so far from me sometimes. I started today and few things were revealed to me. I believe. Do not print this and staple it to your Bibles as being a word of prophesy like my pastor tells those who say "God told me" to do. So here goes:

1. I pray for the healing for my family everyday. I pray that emotionally, we would be healed of the things that hinder us from God, both inflicted by ourselves and inflicted by others. I then pray for the healing of our Spirits, especially from the sin we have poisoned ourselves with and it's effects. Then I pray for the various ailments we suffer from: My nervous issues and depression, Laura's immune system problems, Caeden's anxiety and his eyes etc. We have never experienced much healing on any of these things. I can date my prayers for this stuff back for years and see no visible change for the better. So lately when I pray, I doubt immediately and have no real expectation of healing. That was exposed today. Maybe God wants us broken like He wanted Paul broken. Maybe through weakness, God is glorified through us. Maybe pain is supposed to hurt and that's why God allowed some of the things He did in the first place. Maybe, I need to learn how to forgive my father before I can relinquish the pain. I need to stop focusing on the things that are broken because it is through the broken that God has changed the whole world. There is the Glory of God in the broken. Maybe I should stop praying to not be broken and embrace every feeling that comes in pain, because it makes joy real. I have noticed that I cling to God much closer when I am battling with depression than when things are going well. Sometimes too much joy can bring contentment in me. Contentment is bad when we are speaking of our relationships with God.

2. I have missed the billboard on my front lawn waiting for a bigger "Word" from God. Everyday I pray for God to speak to me, open my ears to hear Him, and have the wisdom to obey. I feel sometimes when God speaks to me it is like how Paul felt when He was blind, then given his sight back, or when Peter realized that this new faith was not reserved only to God's chosen Jews, but for all. Then other times, nothing at all. The issue is that I do not experience this "Life to the fullest" Jesus spoke about, and I think it is because I love my life. I didn't used to as you know well, but somewhere along the line I began to love the things God has given me too much. I have been hearing God speak to me. I believe. For months about living differently, and in my prayers I ask God what that looks like for me. And I have waited ever too patiently for a response. Today I think I got it. Just do it. Stop waiting for something and do it, out of faith. Force yourself to trust in God again and do not doubt. Money cannot buy me faith, a family can not buy me happiness, and a friend cannot fill me. God does those things. Only God does those things.

Sing Broken.
Sing together.












™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Lawn Jockeys and Mall Santas

For The Rockstar, here is my photo after he so generously tagged me. Notice my enthusiasm. I like my photographs taken. Just as long as I have had proper time to manufacture what I want it to look like. I usually send Laura pictures of me mixed in with some kids photos to her work. She will get her co-workers to gather around to see the pics, then bam, there is Zombie wearing just a guitar. Or shizam, Zombie just appeared in 80's running shorts and a Jack Tripper tank top with a mustache. So I don't totally dig the candid thing, but this is for Rockstar, so I did it.


So this weekend was interesting. We did a lot of Christmas stuff for the kids and came across some pretty funny memories. I will tell the story with pictures. We took the kids to see Santa at this cool little place about an hour from our house with Laura's brother and his family. The place was really cool, lights everywhere, things you remember from your childhood Christmas'. The kids saw Santa and got their pictures taken. We had a really nice night. But as we left, something caught my eye. This place we went to was a Christian place a little bit out of town in a series of large barns. Well, when we left, my son pointed out this little gem.


What year is it? Are we living in the 50's, the 30's? How could you not know that a black lawn jockey is racist? So Caeden took the picture next to his lovely little discovery so you would believe me that this really was there. The place overall was very nice, we will go back in the fall for the cider mill, but maybe leave a little comment in the comment box about the lawn jockey.

So the next day, Laura takes the kids to this thing for her work at the mall. It was for kids with Santa was there to read stories and meet the kids. Laura went alone and I guess it was a bad day for her to go alone because both kids were monsters. Observe the photo below.


I have never seen a Santa so pissed as to flee from a child before. Look at the very cute, but sinister look she has on her face as he flees at full speed. I swear to you that little girl is going to be my demise.


We went to some friends house for a Christmas movie marathon, then we went out that night with some friends that are home from school and had some fun, then spent Sunday after church sitting around all day. It was a good weekend, but still, we have bought only one small thing on our Christmas shopping list.













Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Pressure

Semester's over finally. Worst one I have ever had. I thank God it is over. I also thank my wife. Laura has put up with so much crap from me this semester, with my moodiness and my stress. She is awesome, and has shown me I need to learn to handle stress better. I didn't used to feel this way. The other day, I posted a mini blog that said, "I used to be invincible", I used to feel that way. I was a basketball player, a good one. I was known for having the biggest mouth on the court. Half of my game was getting into your head, because most people do not handle pressure very well, they crack and I win.

In my senior year, my coach brought in an ex college player, a good one named Quazy to help coach. Quazy watched me practice and play and saw a weakness in my game, turns out, it is a weakness in my life. He saw how I could get into your head and punch your brain and make you intimidated of me and make you doubt your own abilities. He was better than me and knew it, and so did I. I couldn't get into his head. Instead, one practice he guarded me all night fouling me and running his mouth. He outplayed me and pissed me off to the point of punching walls. I could not hit a shot, I could not guard him even though I was faster and in better shape and could shoot with my eyes closed. He exposed my weakness in front of the whole team and for the first time, at least in basketball, I was in a real fight, and losing it. I was crushed under the weight of the pressure. He grabbed me after practice and explained why he had been beating me down so bad and showed me how to not feel the pressure. The next week, we played the best team in the league who had the best player. Last time we played them, he scored 45 on us. I was intimidated of him, but showed up to the game a different person. I scored 30 on him and held him to 20. I ran my mouth the whole game without doubt in my abilities and beat him. The team lost 115 to 95 though because a lot of people on my team sucked. I say all this not just to relive old glory, but to expose the same weakness in other areas of my life.

I feel pressure to perform at my job, I feel pressure to perform in my family, and I feel pressure to perform at school, and I do not handle it well. I forget that God put all of these things in my life and gave me the tools to succeed. I am able to be a good father and husband because God gave me the ability to, despite never having a father or male influence in my life. God gave me the gifts to lead in my church, even though I have never felt qualified, so with Him I can and will do it. God gave me a brain, so I can achieve at school. The issue is that all of these things are happening at the same time, the perfect storm. So the waves come and the pressure, I have to learn how to stand. I am learning, but learning how to stand in peril always hurts, because it has to.

But I have to.






Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Patriotism?

I pledge allegiance to Christ. I am also an American. But a Christian first. I have never really pledged my allegiance to America, that might sound like I am a communist or un-American or something, but I haven't. When you are young, they make you say the pledge, at least I had to, but never really meant what it is supposed to mean. Before I go on, let me say, I love this country and appreciate my freedom to be writing this or anything else. I was born here, I was raised here and have enjoyed these freedoms my entire life. I would die for my country if the cause were worth the death. However, I am a Christian first. Jesus said in his teaching to give to Caesar, what is Caesars. The point was that we owe God everything and the rest gets what they require. Right now, I am not very proud of the actions of my country. The fact that so many special interest groups are keeping us from getting anywhere. The money holds all of the power. The babes die at alarming rates. Corruption ruins our economy and regular guys suffer the blow and get tossed out of work, just so the government to turn around and bail out the guys that did it in the first place. You sell bad mortgages, the housing market collapses, then we bail you out. That's the story here, that's why other countries are laughing, because America has lost it's luster. This very idea is offensive to a lot of people, including those that I love, so I am trying to tread carefully with what I say, trying not to offend anyone, but I am sick of not having a voice.

The decisions I make will be based on my faith, not based on the fact that I was fortunate enough to be born here. And I WAS fortunate to be born here. I think too many Christians like to make Jesus a Republican, or a Democrat, when He was neither. I am not too sure He would have even voted. He was not concerned with politics or politicians, He was concerned with reaching His hand out to those who were desperate and destitute. He realized that His Father puts governments together, as He did ours. Sometimes He puts people in power to be His hands in the country and sometimes, He has put rulers in to show the people that they need God instead of man. But the point was for all rulers to point the people to God. I think that is the job of Christians too, to point others to God, not ourselves with pomp and arrogance.

I think that over time, the patriotic attitude has led people to not care about those living elsewhere. We drop a bomb and kill thousands and it makes the news here, then people argue over it like it was a football game. What if that happens here? Well, look at 9-11-2001. 9-11 happens all over the world, yet we care for ourselves. A tsunami kills so many and it is in the news for a few weeks, then forgotten about as if those lives meant nothing. Just as easily as I can argue that we bomb too quick and shed so much blood, it can also be argued that Saddam Hussein was called the "Butcher of Baghdad" for a reason. Those lives He took for no reason meant something to God and should have meant something to us. He was a monster and needed to be removed. But a monster also loved by God. And should be loved by us, not so much approved of, but loved.

Love is the very thing that sets us apart from the world. God says you can do all kinds of things, but without love, it will be pointless. We preach without love sometimes and that does not further the Kingdom. We deal with everyday people without love, and they never see God in us. We need to show love in our daily affairs and have integrity in all situations. This points others to God. Especially in a culture that rejects Him and puts Him behind things like money, patriotism, and special interests.

Be in the world, but not of the world. Live as Aliens and strangers here. Be a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. In everything you do, do it for the Glory of God.






Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Riches

Thinking about the post of my lovely wife, I feel I should explain. I am not very good at speaking to rich people. Never have been. I don't know what to talk about and I have spent so little time around them. I used to work at a country club parking cars and they used to shout and snap their fingers at me to hurry. So I keyed one of their Mercedes' and stole some weed he had hidden in the glove box. I was not asked back to work there again. I went to a friends grad party in which people parked on the lawn at their huge compound. I drove over the wrong grass and went fast, possibly went off road and did a doughnut and wound up getting chased down by the cops and his father and received a citation, a well deserved one.

Well Friday night I was determined to try harder because I have been guilty of not saying much and making me look like a jerk, so I tried to relate. I made the observation about the UM engineering dept. and the Bermuda triangle after the doc. had mentioned attending that school and dept. It was not a good segway due to the fact that the Bermuda Triangle was involved. Well, Laura had no idea that I really did see it on Myth Busters. I left that out because I didn't want to sound too peasanty, like "I saw that on Myth Busters right after Dukes of Hazard and right before Cops and Cheaters" "It was a good one". Laura said that, not so under her breath comment with no knowledge that it was true, and it being in fact true, I could not deny it. The night went pretty par for what happened here, me bumbling around eating my foot at every turn. I vowed to for now on just try not to embarrass her.

I spoke with a friend about it and his advice was to just ask questions. Avoid talking about myself and let them talk about themselves, because they like to do that anyways. I will try this technique next time, hit me up with more suggestions on how to speak with those that are rich.








Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Invincible

I was once invincible.






Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

Rouge

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

If we do not practice these things, our religion is flawed.

A lot of Christians do not like the word "Religion". It brings visions of pharisees and church pews and hymnals. Of halls filled with the smell of bake sale and quilt. Little old ladies who hold a Kleenex for hours. Preachers who shout and sweat from the armpits (I sweat from there I must admit). It brings thoughts of rules and ceremonies and stain glass. Of baptismals behind the stage with paintings of Jesus standing among sheep. I grew up in these churches. Hated them. Now miss them sometimes.

My mom used to drive a broken down Ghetto Van to River Rouge (Little Detroit) just picking up shoeless kids and taking them to church and to children's activities at church, which is funny because imagine if a person in a big van with no back seats at all pulled up in front of your house and let your child in to the back of a van where they would sit on the floor and go God knows where. It was a different time then. She did this 3 times a week. She also bought a clown suit and practiced some tricks for the kids, just because she loved Jesus. I used to hate these memories. Not now. What a servant she is. Today, she puts on church services for the elderly confined to nursing homes. This is true religion. This is the face and hands of Jesus.

It isn't about getting bigger buildings, or drawing more people to fill enough seats to justify building a bigger building. It isn't about church dogma or denominations. It is about getting your hands dirty for the sake of Loving our God. The God that makes the stars also hears our hearts break and uses others to show us just how much He loves us.

I needed to be excited today. I didn't sleep last night which is usually a precursor to a bad day. I got up, took Caeden to school and went to school. On the way I was listening to this song called "Hold My Heart' by Tenth Avenue North and the Chorus says:
Could the maker of the stars, hear the sound of my breaking heart
One life is all I am, right now I can barely stand,
If your everything you say you are, will you come close and hold my heart

I heard it before, in fact a hundred times, but this time it drew blood. My eyes filled with tears and I cried all the way to school. For some, you may think this is lame. That's OK, I never minded being lame. I hope you get lame someday too. But I needed it because it was a reminder that there are times that God seems to be on the other side of the galaxy. But the same God that made all things is so in tune with how we feel and hurt and rejoice, and He is here to hold us up. Like a doctor who puts his hands inside the chest of a heart patient and pumps his heart for him, God repairs us.

Sometimes I need some tears to remind me what my religion and job as a pastor is all about. It is about my hands, not my mouth.






Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

A Baby's Kiss

Kids are weird.



I often crouch down and kiss my daughter on her lips, just to experience the surprise of having touched my lips to a wet and cold nose that is covered and caked with snot. A string of it forms as I pull away stretching a full foot between us.



But I love it.




But only if she does it. If I kiss my wife and that happens, I WILL be pissed.






Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.

The American Dream

"What am I doing in my life right now that requires faith?" Francis Chan





Really tough question isn't it.



What comforts can I eliminate to be forced to practice faith? How do you jump, when He says so, and how do you hear Him telling you for sure?

Faith is a risk in every aspect. No fear of consequence requires no faith, so what are we living for? We need risks. We need to stop tirelessly pursuing the American Dream, and pursue the vision of Christ. To condemn the world to gain eternity.

But what does it look like. I want to hear from you.








Sing.
Migrate.


™Zombiehaven 2008. All ideas and photos are copyrighted under Zombiehaven. Anything used from this site, must have written permission.