Instead, I'm doing stuff like downloading Netscape 7. This is my 1st attempt to blog using the new Netscape; I like it so far. It's much faster than Netscape 6 was in loading sites. The fact that it's free is the big motivator, though. Free is the best price!

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posted by #Debi at 8:57 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

Untitled

I was adrift, alone in a fog
Floating along, never touching dry land
I had no anchor, no place to hold onto
You came along and you gave me your hand

CHORUS:
Don't need a man to make me feel happy
Don't need a man to make me feel blue
Just want someone to share my life with
I'm taking a chance that the someone is you

Life's day-to-day was bringing me down
Little by little, I was just getting through
You brought the spark back to my life
I felt so old, now everything is brand new

I see your eyes so full of love
It fills me with joy, just having you near
I could get by without you around, I guess
But life's so much better whenever you're here

I told you! It's not the worst thing I ever read, I guess, but it's no Longfellow. I forget who it was intended for, even.

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This day God gives me
Strength of high heaven,
Sun and moon shining,
Flame in my hearth,
Flashing of lightning,
Wind in its swiftness,
Deeps of the ocean,
Firmness of earth.

This day God sends me
Strength as my steersman,
Might to uphold me,
Wisdom as guide.
Your eyes are watchful,
Your ears are listening,
Your lips are speaking,
Friend at my side.

God's way is my way,
God's shield is round me,
God's host defends me,
Saving from ill.
Angels of heaven,
Drive from me always,
All that would harm me,
Stand by me still.

Rising, I thank you,
Mighty and strong one,
King of creation,
Giver of rest.
Firmly confessing,
Threeness of persons,
Oneness of Godhead
Trinity blest.

posted by #Debi at 8:24 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

posted by #Debi at 5:47 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

I have done a little bit of research on the subject of tithing (not an exhaustive study, by any means, but enough to give me somewhat of a handle on it), and the first thing I should say is that I do not believe tithing to be a New Testament doctrine. What I mean by this is that, while tithing is certainly a good idea and a good discipline, it does not appear to be a “requirement” for New Testament believers. I can’t find anywhere in the NT where tithing is made a prerequisite for inclusion into a body of believers or even the Kingdom of God. One of the respondents on Rachel’s blog said that they believed 10% giving to be a “minimum” for Christians. The only “minimum” I find in the NT for Christians is to “confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead”(Rom. 10:9).

That being said, I do believe that a life of giving should naturally flow out of a life of being one with Jesus. Proverbs 3:27-28 says, “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow’—when you now have it with you.” But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. I want to present my view here systematically and coherently, because this is such a volatile issue that I want to minimize misunderstanding as much as possible.

There seem to be two main examples that people pull out when debating on the “for” side of tithing: Jesus vs. the Pharisees, and Abraham and Melchizedek. I’ll address these one by one.

First, Jesus’ words to the Pharisees re: tithing (Matt. 23:23-24). The passage goes as follows: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”(emphasis mine). There are two points that seem apparent to me here. First, Jesus is obviously taking the Pharisees to task for their hypocrisy in making a big deal out of their tithing. I think that there are lots of folks out there who tithe down to the penny (in fact, I know of one minister who goes so far as to figure the cost of his Christmas and birthday presents and tithes on that amount, too), then think (maybe subconsciously), “Well, I’ve done my bit. Boy, doesn’t that feel good!” Meanwhile, they get angry when the pastor or someone else mentions a need in the church or an outreach or whatever, thinking, “All they ever do is ask for more money!” My point is that sometimes tithing becomes a cop-out for real, heartfelt, giving because there’s a need and God is speaking to you to help fill that need. I guess this is where 2 Corinthians 9:7 comes into play. It reads, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” I don’t think it gets much clearer than that. Secondly, Jesus makes clear in the above passage that He considers tithing to be less important than justice, mercy, and faithfulness. (In fact, it’s interesting that Jesus separated the issues of tithing and faithfulness. Hmmm….)

Now, about the incident with Abraham and Melchizedek: if you read that passage (Genesis 14:17-20) in context, it seems apparent that Abraham was responding spontaneously out of gratitude for the blessing spoken over him by Melchizedek. I don’t find any evidence that this was more than a one-time gift; in fact, Strong’s Concordance only lists one other mention of Melchizedek—in Psalm 110:4, where God was promising David’s descendants that they would serve, like Melchizedek, as both kings and priests. (This is an amendment to the original text of this blog: yes, I found the references in Hebrews to Melchizedek--in Strong's the Hebrews references are spelled differently, for some reason. But again, they refer to the "king and priest" thing and not to tithing.)

The bottom line is, we are not bound by “the law” anymore—Jesus fulfilled the law in all its manifestations—so, if tithing was ever a “requirement” (and I know that it was in the OT to support the Levites who had their hands full killing bulls and goats all day, every day, to atone for the Israelites’ sins and therefore weren’t able to own land), it isn’t now. However, since all of our life belongs to God (not just our money), we should be willing to give whatever we are able to give (whether it be money, time, talents, or whatever) to insure the growth of the Kingdom (not necessarily the growth of the church building and administration). There are so many tangents I could go off on at this time, such as my pet peeve of the “faith movement” treating God like a slot machine (“If I just throw enough quarters in here, one day I’ll hit the jackpot!”), but I won’t. I hope this is not too rambling and that all “rabbit trails” have come together.

posted by #Debi at 7:10 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

I WAS A GIFTED CHILD
i had my niche.
intelligent. creative. or artistic.
what kind of child were you?
(brought you by april)

I think this is pretty accurate, though, even though I don't necessarily agree with the "frownie face" portrayed in the photo. I was gifted and a kind of loner (I had a few friends, but wasn't the class popularity queen, nor did I want to be), but essentially I was content. Thanks, Rachel.

posted by #Debi at 11:12 AM | permalink | 0 comments |

"If you hear a voice within you say, "You cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
~~Vincent VanGogh

Selah.....

posted by #Debi at 9:25 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

**I heard an interesting song on the radio the other day; it was a bluegrass version of Abba's "SOS" by a group call The Meat Purveyors. It was pretty darn good! (And you gotta love a band called The Meat Purveyors!) I was listening through the first verse, thinking, "This sounds familiar," then they went into the chorus and it was all over. I had to "LOL", as they say.

**I sort of got a raise last week. I say "sort of" because they raised the piece rate on one type of claim that I process, and made it retroactive to the beginning of August. The way I figure, it could end up meaning an extra 50 cents an hour, or maybe more. Hoo-ray!

**It really felt like fall yesterday, heading out to work. It was the first day of school for Fayette County, I think; at least, it was the first day I had noticed schoolbuses running in the neighborhood. That, combined with slightly lower temperatures, made me realize that summer is slipping away.

**My friend the Fenian wrote an interesting review of the movie "Signs", where he explores some of the spiritual undertones brought out in the film. I have been advised not to see this movie, due to my previously discussed irrational fear, but from what I have heard, it seems like a good movie. Of course, any film with Mel in it can't be all bad.

**I got in touch with my friend, Tim Frederick, and we're all set to do our duet in October. He liked the song I had picked, and I hope to start work on it next week. We get a half hour to do whatever we want with, so I want us to try to get 5 songs into that time--that would be 2 solos each and the duet. We'll have to see how the timing runs--if we can only get 4 songs into that, I'll try to talk him into 2 duets.

By golly, I think that's most of my "stack of stuff"! I have this whole list of websites that I want to check out, such as ducttapeguys.com (see how exciting my life is?!), and if I find anything extremely interesting, I'll be sure to share.

posted by #Debi at 7:35 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and was rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not just to those who are close to us but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judgment and quick to forgiveness and patience and empathy and love.

AMEN! Be Nice; Nice Is Good!

Just a little something to start the day with. Blessings!

posted by #Debi at 7:21 AM | permalink | 0 comments |

Thanks, as always, for the link.

posted by #Debi at 10:07 AM | permalink | 0 comments |

My irrational fear is of any of those scary things that they make movies about--walking dead, mummies, demonic stuff, and unexplained phenomenoms. I generally don't have to confront this fear--one just doesn't come across "real" vampires (as opposed to those who just dress like them) in everyday functioning. I avoid going to movies that are scary, or even potentially scary (as much fun as it was to watch, I did have a bad dream after watching "Ghostbusters"); I don't watch "The X-Files" or "The Twilight Zone" or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". As much fun as any of you might find these activities, I don't miss them at all--it's kinda like being allergic to shellfish; you just don't eat any.

The other day, I was forced to confront this fear in an unexpected way--a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, sent me a very scary email. I say very scary; apparently most people found it to be startling at most, and amusing at best. To me, it was traumatic. I screamed very loudly, loud enough that I wonder that my neighbors didn't call the police. I also felt betrayed for just a moment, then my rational mind began to take over and I realized that this friend would never do anything intentionally harmful to me--she either just forgot about this irrational fear of mine or didn't realize how intense it is. In any case, I have forgiven the friend--the large apology Hershey bar helped a great deal with that, by the way. I am beginning to be able to sleep at night again (I told you it was intense), which is a good thing, because exhaustion was really starting to set in. I had trouble looking at my computer screen for long periods for a couple of days, because I was afraid at some level that this thing would pop up on my screen again.

As I said, I have forgiven the friend who sent the email; what I am having more trouble dealing with are my other friends who, when I tell them about this episode, laugh at me and belittle the trauma that I experienced and tell me that I shouldn't have been afraid because their kids weren't even scared by this. I said it was an irrational fear--I don't mind admitting that--but just because it is irrational, doesn't make the fear less real or intense. I will get over this; I think my point in telling all this is to remind us all that when we are dealing with people, we cannot disrespect them just because they may have some goofy belief system or cultural superstitions or a viewpoint on any given subject that may differ from ours.

posted by #Debi at 3:11 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

I am 16% Internet Addict

I am amazed that I even found this test. This is my first time online, isn't it great, I figured out this AOL-thing! But I don't quite know how to turn the computer off.

Take the Internet Addict Test at fuali.com

I also took a look at the 100 Albums You Should Remove from Your Collection Immediately list; I only have 2 of them, U2's Zooropa and Joshua Tree, and I definitely plan to keep them, list or no! They listed a couple other U2 titles, plus a few that I'll bet Alan has in his collection....taste is definitely subjective!

posted by #Debi at 8:13 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

I'm The Internet-Addict Test!

I love in-jokes, especially if they help highlight the marvellously geeky cultural differences between my internet clique and the rest of the world.

Click here to find out which test you are!

posted by #Debi at 7:58 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

posted by #Debi at 9:40 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

I got a call yesterday afternoon from a church I sang at last fall; they want me to sing at a little fair that they will be having in October. I had been approached about this last fall, but for some reason thought it took place in the summer and that they had forgotten about me. They want me to sing about a half-hour's worth of songs--from 8:30 to 9:00 AM!! I just checked my calendar--they said October 6th, which is a Sunday, so maybe I ought to call and confirm. I thought it was a Saturday; in fact, I'm sure the guy said Saturday. Oh, well, I'll get it straightened out. If anyone's interested, the church is the Hutchison United Methodist Church in Bourbon County (I'd say Paris, but it's actually closer to Lexington). There's a friend of mine I've been wanting to do a duet with; I think I'll call him and see if he wants to work it up for this fair.

posted by #Debi at 6:19 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

Thanks, Andrew, for the link.

posted by #Debi at 6:28 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

As I was saying, I’m avoiding posting on The Vine because I don’t like posting twice in a row there. It makes me feel as though I am dominating the “conversation”, and I do that enough in my face-to-face conversations. It’s a habit I’m trying to break. I am generally thought of as a good listener, and I’d like that reputation to have more of a basis in truth. It’s very easy for someone like me to listen with the purpose of formulating what I’m going to say in response; with that attitude, you aren’t really hearing the other person all the time. So, if any of you guys from VBCC are reading this, now would be a good time for you to feed my blog-reading habit by posting something. :-)

I am kind of bored thus far with my “word-a-day” e-mail that I subscribe to; so far, they have only sent me one word I wasn’t already familiar with, and that was a sports term, so I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy to have it added to my lexicon.(Side note: I heard someone on the radio the other day refer to their “lexicon of words”. Duh! What else would a lexicon be comprised of? I hate redundancies!)By the way, in case you were wondering, the sports term was "juke", meaning, "to fake someone out of position".

I’ve actually been listening to the radio a lot lately—I put on my headphones at work and listen while I type. One of my favorite shows is “The Bob and Sheri Show”, which comes on in the mornings here. The other day they interviewed an African-American jazz bagpipe player (!), Rufus Harley. He doesn’t seem to have a homepage, but when I looked him up on Google, there were 16,100 references! So, if you’re interested in finding out more about him, go for it! There’s plenty of info there. He played a little on the show, and he’s actually quite good.

I had my regular follow-up visit with my endocrinologist yesterday. That actually went quite well. She told me that I am doing better, even though I continue to gain weight, although at a slower pace than before. Once my lab work comes back, I hope to get the report that I can continue on my reduced dosage, and maybe after a while, I will actually begin to lose weight. I suppose a little more exercise on my part wouldn’t hurt, either. :-) I am starting to really like my doctor, Dr. Boggess, pretty well as a person; she actually gets my sense of humor. At first I may have put her off by telling her that I believe in God and divine healing and that I didn’t accept the diagnosis that I would be dealing with the Grave’s disease (see my July 8th post) for the rest of my life. Maybe she thought I was one of those “religious nut-cases”, or maybe I just thought she thought that. Anyway, lately our sessions have felt almost more like a couple of friendly acquaintances getting together than an office visit. I wonder if God has a purpose in this……

One last thing before I sign off; I was listening to the aforementioned Bob and Sheri Show the other day, and they had people call in with stories of difficult pregnancies. One woman called in with a story that sparked a little spiritual reflection in me. She told about when she was in labor in the hospital, she became frightened by the sounds of women screaming in the ward. (This was apparently about 25 years ago, before some of the better advances in OB-GYN.) She got out of bed, dressed, and ducked out of the hospital with the intention of driving herself home. She said she told herself, “I can’t have this baby—it’s not so bad being like this! I’ll just be pregnant forever!” (Apparently labor can cause a loss of sanity.) Anyway, that phrase, “I’ll just stay pregnant forever!” stuck in my head. We use a lot of pregnancy metaphors in “Christianese”, such as “birthing a ministry” and so on. Alan has been talking to me lately about it being time for me to think about starting a home fellowship here. Even though I know (way deep down inside) that he’s probably right, my gut reaction when he says this is always sheer terror. I keep thinking I just want to stay ‘pregnant’ forever! Of course, I know that that is not healthy, and that I need to just get up, clean this place up, and figure out who the heck would want to come hang out here with me. Pray with me that God will show me who is supposed to be part of a home fellowship at my place.

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Speaking of getting substance out of something, I heard about a new website the other day on the radio, PowerPotentials, which gives better ways to say things to "make friends and influence people." To give you a taste of this site, here is the "Power Quote of the Week":
“A speech given in anger will be the most powerful speech you will ever regret."
--Unknown
There's a free e-mail newsletter that will give a power phrase each week that I plan to subscribe to. Should be interesting!

We had our monthly potluck at VBCC last night; Kathy showed up with her adorable daughter, Joy, and brought fried chicken--we told her she could stay. :) In fact, everyone who brought a main dish brought something with chicken in it--we got a chuckle out of that because last time, everyone ended up bringing beef dishes. I brought the infamous blackberry cobbler (which I privately renamed "blackberry soup") and macaroni and cheese made with rotini (the rotini holds more cheese sauce in each bite--very efficient). We missed Matt; he had to be out of town or something. Next week we're supposed to have a little send-off for Robert and Molly. I am not really looking forward to this, even though I love just about any excuse for a party, because I know how much I am going to miss them. They will still be able to blog on The Vine, though, so I hope we'll hear from them often through that medium.

My friend Lorraine is graduating with a Master's Degree even as I write--Congratulations, Lorraine!! I was kinda bummed that I didn't get to go to the ceremony, but it started before I got off work. I'll get to celebrate with her and hers on Saturday, though. Her mom is in from Ireland, and I hope to be able to see her before she goes back home. Just talking to her makes me want to pack everything up and stow away in her baggage..... :)

posted by #Debi at 8:57 PM | permalink | 0 comments |