A Different View?

   I took a different way to get to work today... I had a breakfast (Thanks to Odessa Regional Medical Center for the breakfast and appreciation gift!) meeting and came to work from there.

   I found it somewhat disconcerting.  The traffic flow was different. I found myself at different traffic lights becoming anxious because I couldn't anticipate the changes as I do on my normal route. I saw different things. It wasn't comfortable! Some of the things I saw were nice to look at, while some of the things I saw weren't so nice to see...

   So what's the point? Glad you asked!  It is really easy (too easy!) to go the same way to work everyday. It is really easy to do the same thing the same way every time we do it.  It is easy to become predictable.  It is so comfortable to be in our rut.  Ritual and routine is nice, however, we miss out on so much if we limit ourselves to the rut of it!

   There is a danger in being comfortable. We can lose our focus and not see what is around us. There is a difference in seeing and really seeing. Ritual and routine can cause us to become comfortable and not really see what the Lord might want us to see.

   Take a different route to church, work or wherever you go sometime... Take a close look and ask God to show you what you need to see!



  
  

Excellent Customer Serivce!

A brake light on my truck was out, so I stopped by the Kent Kwik Lube at 42nd and Grandview in Odessa to get it looked at. The guy removed the lens and replaced the bulb. When finished, I asked how much I owed him and he said, "Just a handshake." Wouldn't take any money...

Guess where I'll go to get my oil changed?

Any ideas how this might apply to church?  I do!

Randomness

   Driving Odessa's 42nd street isn't all that different from driving Westheimer in Houston. Not as long, but similar driving styles...

   Anyone that isn't convinced that Odessa can't support more than one Starbucks, needs to join the 8 other cars in line at the drive-thru at 8:20 am most morning...

   Men: You NEED to be up to date with your colon and prostate screening! Women: You NEED to be up to date with your breast and gyno exams!  Someone whom I was looking forward to getting to know better apparently didn't and had a tumor burst filling him with infection that may take his life! Git 'em done!


   Isn't Fall the absolute best time to live in West Texas?

   Isn't it great to be a Christian?

Lectionary?

     If you attend a worship service at Bethany Christian Church - Odessa, you will notice that on the front of our worship bulletins where we list the date of the service, we also include the date of the “Church” year. Many congregations do the same.

     Ever wonder why? Let me tell you…

     For a number of years, we have followed the “Revised Common Lectionary” as a guide and uniform approach to worship. The Lectionary is a 3 year cycle of Scripture readings that is used by many denominations. There are Scripture readings for each week and covers 80% of the Bible every three years. Each week includes a reading from the Old Testament, one of the Poetical books, the Gospels and the Epistles, the New Testament letters.

     We generally use one of the passages as our Call to Worship / Responsive Reading, another as our Scripture reading for the week and another (generally the Gospel) as the text for the sermon. Preaching from the lectionary is useful because it allows for a systematic study through a specific book from the Bible. It also prevents the passing over or ignoring passages that are difficult to understand and hard to teach. On occasion, pastors may set aside the Lectionary to preach on a special theme or timely topic, but overall many find it to be a good disciplined approach to preaching.

   What do you think? Let me know.

Home alone!

Going to be "home alone" this weekend as S & A are going to Tucumcari to work on the in-laws stuff...

Anyone want to hang with the Revelvis this weekend? or have breakfast in the morning?

Actually, I have reading to do and football to watch, but I'm available!

I still like the Big 8!

Congrats to Turner Gill, whose KU team made a nice recovery and knocked G-Tech off for his first win at KU... I still like those Big 8 schools! Settling in to watch OU vs FSU...

Hope OU takes it to them big time! Not happy with the way Bobby B was treated... kinda like when J Jones pushed Tom (the only coach the Dallas Cowboys will ever have!) Landry! Guess I should get over it, but still...

The transition from the dark side has begun!

Ok, I'm done with my Blackberry... the final straw came when I could not carry on a 5 minute conversation with my secretary with a full battery! It just decided to shut itself down!


I have begun the transition from the dark side! Have ordered a 16 gig I-Phone 4... Don't know when it will arrive, but it can't get here too soon!