Hmmm Interesting...

The last two days it has been very windy.
So,I put out our Nativity set a while back in preperation for Christmas.
We found that the wind repeatedly knocked over Mary and Joseph.
But the baby Jesus never fell over.
Interesting.Very interesting.
There is a neat analogy to this besides the fact that I am going to
a)tie them down to a stake next year or b)build a stable for them.

The Cube

Well,today is Christmas Eve and I have already got a great present fromLisa and Joe(Leah's sister and husband)
A Roland Micro Cube amp.It's a tinier size model of my amp and it not only runs on electric but it also runs on battery power as well .
Very compact and portable and it has a killer sound.
I've already have been having fun with it!
Thanks guys!

Christmas 07

Here is something I was thinking about the other day.
Christmastime is always a stessful and hectic time of the year for all of us.
We take the most drastic measures to prepare wether it is to finish our shopping early or starting the decorating process in early November.
No matter what initiative we choose,there will always be stress.
Can it be completely relieved? I don't think so.
About 2000 years ago,holiday stress was not uncommon.
You have to understand the stress that Mary and Joseph endured upon yhe arrival of our Savior-what a precursor to what we face today.
Yet most of our stress we face has nothing to do with Christ-it is the pomp and circumstance that goes with the holiday.
Mary and Joseph didn't have to worry about decorations or cookies or presents;more like a place for Mary to have baby Jesus. And to end up in a stable neverthless.
Pondering Christ's arrival,its signifigance brings us back to the proper frame of mind what Christmas is about-it existed before retailers and Hallmark made it a official "holiday",
Christmas began before creation existed- the plan formed by the Heavenly Father Himself,not Father Christmas...

The Trip

I was on vacation this week.
It was pretty nice-man I am going to hate going back to work.My sciatic nerve on my left lower back is all irritated so it has been up and down in the pain arena.
Anyway,this past Friday,we(me,Leah,the boys,and G and Pa) went to the Museum of Science and Industry. they had a Star Wars exhibit that showed over 80 props from the movies along with things related to science and so forth.
It was so cool!!! Even though my sciatic was killing me and all the boys wanted to do is buy,buy,buy at the gift shop,It was an awesome experience.
I haven't been there in awhile-a long while. And the big train set GREW!!
it was so awesome-i could just stand there and stare at the trains and the models!They had a big model of Chicago linked with it complete with the Sears Tower and its own L train.The boys and I agreed that this would be a cool train set layout to have for our own!
The Star Wars exhibit was so cool.Just stand and admire the same landspeeder prop used in Episode 4 was cool.All the models used in movies were so neat look at.
Seeing Artoo and 3-PO along with the Wookie costumes and the other droids and such.
All in all,it was all too cool.There was a family from Canada that came down to see the exhibit because they were not going to have it up in Toronto.
The last thing was going on the ride in the simulated cockpit of the Milleium Falcon-that was so fun-I wish I could make something like that at home-this definitely rejuvenated the little boy in me.

High hopes

I am pretty pumped to have read that there is a possibility of Peter Jackson doing a film version of "The Hobbitt"!Hopefully Pete and New Line Cinema can finally iron out their differences.
While on the subject of epic movies,I am equally torqued at George Lucas.
They are making a CG series on the Clone Wars.I really think he(Lucasfilm) needs to think outside the box instead of throwing the clone wars at us again!
Believe me,I have read the novels and the graphic novels as well as the animated series and you can't really do any more without sacrificing chronological order.
I would suggest maybe doing something from the Knights of the Old Republic,or maybe finally making a CG film version of Shadows of the Empire,the Thrawn Trilogy,Dark Empire-or just something other than the Clone Wars please!
Anyway,got that off my chest-whewwww!

143

Okay,today I stayed home because Leah and Jean are down in Springfield for a library function.So I'm here with the kids.Kel has a half day and Ike has a whole day off.
Kel was up early and we watched the tail end of Mr. Rogers. Yes you are correct the one and only Fred Rogers.Mr. Mcfeely and trolley and all.In the show, Daniel the tiger had a code to "I love you"-143.
1-I-one letter
4-love-it has four letters
3-you-three letters
So there you have it.You can say I love you in a neat and unique way.
143 to all of you.

The Apple and the Pear

The other day I was on break from work.I yanked out a huge red delicious apple and proceeded to devour it. While doing that,a fellow worker just pulled out a strange looking apple.After I inquired about it, my friend informed me that this strange deformed apple was in fact a red pear.Though the two fruits looked similar in appearance, they were miles apart in distinction.
In the church today we seem to have two things confused.
Confession and repentance.
They pose as effective if necessary in the process of connrcting with God.Yet, these are two different actions that are not to be confused.
Confession is admission.
Repentance is an action following confession.
For example, I confess that I have a bad temper.I then can choose to repent of it that is to turn away from doing it-a change of mind,of heart.
We might confess our sins but do we truly repent of them?Maybe that is why so many of us hsve struggled in victory over certain sins and can't because we simply confuse the two or refuse to repent for whatever reason.
Confession and repentance are similar in that both are beneficial and are necessary yet they are different in meaning just like the apple and the pear.

Another Day

Trying to relax.Ike is alot better since Wednesday.
He came back to school today-Yeah!!!
Jim started working on the electrical wiring for the pool-the poor guy was having a bad sinus headache and it got too dark to work so we called it a day.My brother -in-law Jim-he's the man for the job and he's doing a fine job that is.
Keller-that boy needs to buckle down in school-the kid is smart -very smart he just hurries through everything he does then gets sloppy and forgets stuff-definitely a year of transition for him in the area of school aptitude.
Part of growing up.
Leah-work,home,school,me,the boys you know stress.
And there is Max.The crazy cat.
I thank God for His grace over us even when I don't show appreciation for it at times.
I can think of worse things to brood over and situations to dread than what I have now.
I think with God's help,I can handle this.

Sick

Isaac has been sick.
All week.
It finally hit its peak yesterday when Jean (my mother-in-law) tool him to the doctor early than the proposed time because he had another bout of SEVERE abdominal pains.Nothing renders you helpless watching you child writhe and scream in pain.
It tears you apart inside.
So the doctor sent him to the ER at Morris hospital to run some tests.
11:00-11:30He was a trooper through the whole ordeal.
In the end,cat scan,IV and all, they ended up diagnosing him with
Lyphadinitis-messentric.
Due to a virus,the lymph nodes in you small intestines get inflamed.
So, you get bad abdominal pains and fever.
He's doing okay.We all got back at 6:30.
I thank God that it wasn't as bad as it could be.

Rush Hour

This past Sunday at church it was interesting.
The service was great and the Spirit moved.
Our pastor,who leads worship with music was,I felt rushing us into the presence of God.
Sometimes I feel we are in such a hurry when it begins we miss out at the important intimate time in the Most holy place.
My pastor is so notorious with that. He gets so excited he lose his place and this Sunday was of no exception.
We actually stopped playing the train wreck was so bad.
However, God prevailed.
In the worship experience,we often times lose sight of why God has called us together.
We use upbeat songs to get the congregation moving-to hurry up and get to the slow stuff in order to do the altar call or to get to that all important message from the Word so we would have time for preaching and maybe an altar call at the end.
Have we put the Holy Spirit on a schedule?
Are we in a hurry?For what?
Is the worship experience on Sunday morning the equivalent of waiting in the drive-thru at Macdonalds?
Have I and the many others in the body of Christ forgot what it means to wait in His presence?Many of us prefer the outer courts and dread the inner courts for what
The Unexpected?
A warm fuzzy glowing type feeling?
What if?
What if God showed up-it's His house you know,and disrupted our timetable to establish His own agenda.
Do we really know how to worship in His presence or do we spend that part of the service groping in the dark?
What's with the rush hour?
Is what we bring to the Master worth the time we spend or are we wasting it for our own agenda-to please ourselves?
I'll let you answer the question.



r

Trip to Ohio

Last weekend Jean and Dave and Leah and I went to a friend of our's daughter's wedding in Colombus,Ohio on Friday.It was a nice time-ha! No kids!No kidding!!
We came back that Saturday night-I think you can still get jetlag just from travelling in a car besides flying.
I was wiped.
Then to top it off Sunday afternoon Isaac startred getting REAL bad stomach cramps that lasted all through the night.
He then began spiking a fever.
Today, he's doing better although Keller started spiking a fever.
We are supposed to be getting our swimming pool this week and Julie hasn't come out to mark all the lines in the ground .I still need either Dave or Jim to help me get the wiring for the pool ready so it's going to be an interesting week.

Path

Yesterday,Keller and I went for a bike ride.In Coal City there is a bike path that stretches from border to border.
So, we took it and we must say it is a cool bike path.
This morning,I took a ride on it early.It was beautiful-just before the sun rose up.
I saw a doe on the path ahead of me.
Before I could get my camera phone ready,she took off.It's nice to see nature once in awhile in action.I think I found a new bike path.
Too bad Diamond doesn't have any-they should.

Spiritual Game

"And churches still go on playing a spiritual game
while the beggar on the street goes insane
And churches still go on with a humanistic message made to soothe your soul
while the truth about your sin goes untold..."

That was an excerpt from the song "Spiritual Game" off the album On Rock by a Christian rock band Daniel Band.The album was recorded in the 80's yet this song seems as relevant today as it was in its day.

Well-tempered

In my last post, I was re-evaluating my life.It's good to do that once in a while.
In my class, we are studying the Book of James. I have read it before and now once again I experience insight in a book that today is overlooked.Mainly because it is a "meat" of the Word book-new Christians will have a tough time reading it because to me it is geared for the seasoned believer that needs a proverbial "kick in the butt" so to speak.Chapter One- How we see our trials and how we respond to them can shape our relationship with God. We can allow them to lead us to righteousness or like Adam and Eve,we can let these tests take us into sin-which leads to death.
Counting it joy is having the Godly perspective-not superficial or negative since-that calm in the midst of the storm-smiling in the face of death because we know Whom it is that is there with us-He,Christ suffered as well.
I see the analogy of making swords in this.The metal has to be heated,beaten and heated and beat again until the piece of metal becomes the desired object-a sword.
Our trials can shape us into be the tool God wants us to be and the weapon that the devil fears most.
That means believing in God without wavering.That is the challenge right there.
Being double-minded is to be unstable.
James goes on to say that the person who is double minded should not expect to receive anything from Him.
Maybe that's why we see less people get healed,saved,and delivered.
Maybe that is why we don't see a breakthrough in our nation and our churches.
Unbelief,doubt, walls we set before because it is easy to hide-
"what if?""What if this?"-that is fear and fear leads to fin-an absence of faith.
Lord help me in my disbelief.

Reflecting

Looking back at the road I am treading.
The shortcuts I tried to take.
The curbs of life I hit.
I don't pray enough-if not at all.
I don't read His Word enough if you even count on Sundays.
Do I believe as I use to?
Have i allowed the trials in my life to draw me closer to Him or farther away.
Do I allow too much distraction in my life to weaken my focus?
I desire to finish-to finish well.

Laodicea

My Pastor told us last Wednesday about a website geared at watchdogging the "new" churches and their hirelings we call pastors today:
sliceoflaodicea.com
Must I be carried to the skies with flowery ease
While others fought to win the fight and sailed through bloody seas...

Sir Isaac Watts

Java,java,java

I remembered today the quote I had Leah put on my birthday cake last year.
The saying goes...

If Given Enough Coffee,I Could Rule The World..."
I haven't got my quota yet so the world can sigh a breath of relief.

Warning

I just got out The Warning and Rage for Order by Queensryche the other day to listen to.
The Warning is awesome album as so was Rage.
Then Operation Mindcrime came and that was the icing on the cake.
Warning is one of my favorites.

Take hold of the flame.
Can't you see life's a game.
So take hold of the flame...
You got nothing to lose but nothing to gain...

Quote

" I'm not quite what I thought I was
Then again, I may be more..."


Roads to Madness- Queensryche

Work,work,work...

Ah, I finally can breathe again.
I have been doing time in sanding department.
I was a sander years ago -five years to be exact.
years following that I was able to do other things and escape that drudgery.
Since then, and two layoffs later,they somehow needed me -a "floater" you might say.
Permanently yet temporarily stuck there.
Labor weekend is here and I am glad to be home.

Summer

This summer as a whole was okay-at least I did not spend it bound up with an injured arm as was the case last summer so I thank God for that.
1. I saw the Transformers movie-COOL!
2. Got a new bike for Father's day-SWEET!
3. Got the new,recent Stryper album "Reborn" -different yet very cool-it rocks!
4. Watched "300"- awesome!
5. For fun, I got a new ZOOM fx pedal for my guitar. nice!
6. spending another summer with my family and watching the Bill boys grow up some more-priceless.

Keller Rocks

Last night I was giving Keller guitar lessons.
He wanted to learn about power chords so I showed him his first power chord.
I even added a little distortion.
You should have seen the look on everyone's faces.
That look of excited discovery-charting a new territory.
To see my son learn something that I taught him makes me fell adequate.
An accomplishment worth noting.
I hope Keller keeps progressing.Leah and I want the boys to have a good foundation in music-even if they don't do anything further than just play it in their bedrooms.
Oh and Isaac is ready to learn also.
Keller Rocks!

Another Day

Well, another day is transpiring. Both my sons are starting school today.
One is entering fourth and one is entering kindergarten.It is relieving yet it also is quite awesome in that these kids are getting older.
They're growing up.

300

Last night I watched "300". It was awesome! It was like "The Matrix" and "Braveheart" combined together .i liked it-ALOT.

New Cat In Town

Hey there!Well,we just received a new addition to the Bill household.Meet Max.He's a good cat-very smart. I wasn't sure it would work having a cat in the house and everything but-since I was the last to be convinced to get the cat.I am happy say that I am glad to have gotten Max.

The Triumphant Return...

Hey everybody I am back.It has been awhile and so I have felt that I need to start doing it again.A lot has transpired since then so here we go .

My boys

Here is a shot of my boys being silly one day.
That's why I love them so much.
Just like dear old dad.

Dungy

O.K. I am not into sports that much.
Hey I did however watch a little bit of the Super Bowl at my sisters though-
The Bears got royally served.
This morning I read an interview with Coach Dungy of the Colts.
It is cool to read about a coach who puts the Lord first in everything.
A coach who isn't ashamed to mention the Lord-(you know its sooo much easier to say God...) Dungy is not afraid to mention his faith-how it molds his strategies-
his help in dark times that he has faced.
In a society tthat is Godless,tearing down our crosses,staying politically correct to stay safe, it is great to see someone stand out and give credit to the Lord for their accomplishment.
I believe the Lord gave Dungy that win to bring glory to His name.

Scrat

If you haven't seen any of the Ice Age movies,do it.
In the movies,there is a character named Scrat. A prehistoric squirell with an appetite for acorns. So while you watch the main storyline,you also experience the hardships of Scrat trying to get this acorn and keep it while enduring icebergs,lightning and predators.
The elusive acorn.
When I see Scrat.I think of myself and others trying to get our "acorn" in life.
We go through hardships and weigh countless burdens on ourselves just to get that acorn.

30 years

Oh! hey guys! I completely forgot!

Thirty Years of Star Wars!
Happy Anniversary!
May The Force Be With You!

Aeronautics

I just got a new cd.
Masterplan:Aeronautics.
These German Prog metallers totally rock!

Happiness

Here is a list I stumbled on in my devotions the other day:

Ten Rules for Happier Living:
1. Give Something away
2. Do A Kindness
3.Give Thanks Always
4.Work with Vim and Vigor
5. Visit the elderly and Learn from Their Experience
6.Look Intently into the Face of a Baby and Marvel
7. Laugh often-it's a Lubricant
8. Pray to know God's way
9.Plan as Though You will live Forever-You Will
10. Live Today As though Today was Your last Day on Earth

C&C

As a RTS fan, I am eagerly awaiting the release of the new Command and conquer game this year.The Brotherhood of Nod will be up to their shennanigans again and I can hardly wait.

Over

I thank God.
Yesterday I was released to full time duty.
This ordeal is over.
God I thank You for getting me through this even when I didn't cooperate in the process.
There were times I focused more on my plight than seeing what God was doing
in this situation.
Thank You again God.

Finis.

Pilkey Rocks

Dav Pilkey is one of my favorite kid's books author.
Why you ask?
Because Dav is funny.tackling kid stuff.
Stuff kids like to joke about-you know burps,farts and puking.
My oldest son Keller loves the books.
He is currently working on one of his own creations.
It's exciting to see a kid so enamored by a book,that he wants to write his own.

Tra-la-la!!!

Wallace

On the coattails of my last blog,here is a artist's rendering of William Wallace-a famed Scottish leader in their struggle for independence from England.
Here was one man whose life and death has been a source of inspiration for many people like myself included.
I still enjoy watching Braveheart from time to time.
I have books about Sir William that I have read.
Here was a man who thought freedom was something worth fighting for.

That is inspiration alone in itself.

What of the martyrs of the Faith?
They saw that standing for the Truth,for Christ something worth dying for.
The millions in China and abroad suffering persecution for the gospel.
I see a lot of Wallaces in my world today.
Our founding fathers of this country. Giving up riches,titles to birth this country.
Standing for something regardless of the cost.
Awesome.

Impact

In my devotions the other day the writer used a quote from one of my favorite films-Gladiator.

" What we do in life echoes in eternity..."

It is my prayer that in this new year that what I do will have a lasting eternal impact on those around me.
An impact of positive not negative proportions.
Christ was one man-God in the flesh mind you, yet he has not only impacted the world with His life,death and resurrection, but has altered the course of history as we know it.
The order of the universe has changed-forever.
One person.
One destiny.
One God.
God is the enabler to achieve this manifesto.
I know alone I cannot make this materialize into a reality.
May God help me achieve my goal.
For we are destined to win.

Here is something you don't see everyday...

See this picture? Ibet you do now.
Snow.Remember that white stuff?
Frozen rain?
snow forts?
Snowball fights?
What happened to winter?
What happened to snow?
Can I have it back please?

Gerald

With Gerald Ford's passing this week,I am reminded of a time in my life when I wrote to President Ford.
I was in third grade I believe and out of the blue I wrote him a letter.
Basically kid stuff.I don't recall the body of the letter.Today,though, we'd make two copies just for reference and to use for scrapbooking purposes.
I got a reply but it was a preprepared formal letter -not a personal reply.
But my letter got to the White House somehow and for a kid my age, that meant the world to me-it was cool.
So long Gerald-rest in peace.

A New Year

Alright! This past year finally blew over! And I am glad for it.
I think for 2007 I am thinking of a quote Mel gibson's character William wallace makes in Braveheart.
"Every man dies,not every man really lives..."
It's my hope that in 2007, I will live even more .
I will attain even more.
I will accomplish even more.