Hard To Get Along With Someone?

We all have that someone at work, school, church, family, etc. that we just have a hard time loving and getting along with! What do you do with them? Click Here for the answer! You may not like it.

Wisdom From A Cracker Jacks Box

I always seem to find significance in the small things in life. I enjoyed a snack of Cracker Jacks yesterday, it had been a while and someone left some in the Fellowship Hall here at church so I grabbed them. Anyways...It was the prize inside that struck my interest. When I was a kid, the prize was actually a toy of some sort or maybe even a temporary tattoo, but all I got was a piece of paper with a picture on it that you are supposed to tape on your pencil as a "topper"

being rather irritated (I mean, who uses pencils anymore?) I was going to toss it all when I noticed some writing on the back of the prize wrapper about pencils. It says:

"Fun Fact" - A typical pencil can write 45,000 words or draw a continuous line for 35 miles! Having that information to me was more valuable than the pencil topper itself. I have a tendency to ponder on the meaning of ordinary things (see the oyster cracker post) so I came up with a spiritual comparisons on the Christian life and pencils.

1. I rarely use pencils...Christians rarely use God, the Bible, Prayer, Faith, etc.

2. Pencils need to be sharpened to work properly...Spiritual disciplines sharpen our lives to

help us fight the battle as is mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-20.

3. A good feature about pencils is that you can erase mistakes...God erases our sins when we

repent and ask forgiveness, bringing us back into right fellowship with Him.

Just as the fact that pencil can draw a line about 35 miles shows...it has to continually be pressed down and moving, keeping it s sharpness, and not quit working. Paul addressed this idea of perseverance in 1 Corinthian 9: 19-27 by using a race illustration. A runner must keep himself in training for the race, run with all the intention of winning the prize, and to win means he must finish. Are you quitting your race? Is your spiritual life dull and need sharpening? Almost all pencils get thrown away before their usefulness is over. We as Christians should not quit running this race in life, "keep on keeping on" as they say!

Starbucks Will Be Closed Today...Yeah!

I just read today that Starbucks will be closing for three hours today. (Click Here for the story) to retrain their employees, oh wait "baristas" how to make coffee. Starbucks needs more than three hours to learn how to make good coffee! Maybe they should roast their own beans in their shop so it is as fresh as it can be! My favorite coffee shop of all time in Dothan, Al. did this and they (Dakota's) kept me going through my college years. JavaMoon Coffee here in Bradenton,Fl. does this as well and as their slogan says..."There are many stars but only one moon...may JavaMoon buck the stars out of the sky"

Support your local Coffee Shop!

Reverend Willy

It's official...I'm now the Reverend William G. Blackrick! O.k. now that the excitement is over, you can just call me Bill.

I'm Up Before the Firing Squad Today!

Tomorrow Evening at 6:00 p.m. I will be taking the next step in my ministry and becoming ordained. Many have chosen to be ordained before entering college and their first "jobs" at a church but I chose to wait. I had never been approached with being ordained by any of the churches I had been a part of and I feel it is the duty of the church to recognize, nominate and ordain someone. I've always felt that if I was the one to bring it up or ask to be ordained it would be selfish.
Today is my ordination counsel here at church. I'll be sharing with other pastors, deacons of the church, and others about my testimony, call to ministry, education goals, theological beliefs (which is the part I'm worried about answering...I know what I believe, but some of my views aren't the traditional Southern Baptist's), and whatever else they decide to hurl my way.
When someone gets ordained there is a orientation of praise, recognition of achievement, etc. and I don't want that. Yes I will have the "REV." before my name from now on, but it's a prefix I don't want to flaunt around like some in the media light do. Anyways...I hope I come out alive!

Can You Get "Moon-Burned"?

As I am writing this, the moon is very bright and full outside! For those of you actually got to see the lunar eclipse last night you are lucky (too cloudy in Florida to see) I was out enjoying life and walking around my apartment complex which I do when I want to think about things...I noticed the moon. Have you ever just stopped and stared at that thing? I ended up laying on the hood of my car and did nothing but stare into the brightness of the full moon. It's amazing that you can actually see the craters and spots from earth with the naked eye. I'm no expert on the moon but I do know that we only see one side of the moon ever due to its rotation timing with the earth's. This idea got me thinking about how Christians show only one side of their lives to people around them.

Christians seem to always get stereotyped as being hypocrites and such by society and there are many many many of them that deserve that title. Christians try to only show their better side when they are with people...who wants to show their dark side anyways right? It's easy to hide our problems, sins, and ugliness deep inside ourselves and act as if everything were perfect and bright, like the moon is right now. The truth is, we are human and we all have a dark side which we hide from others. Is this being genuine? There are so many passages in the Bible that deal with this kind of thing...what are your favorites?