Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Is the Lord holding you captive?

When I consider captivity, I think the about the zoo, the prison, and sometimes school. I guess school is self-imposed, but it is a trial. Paul writes, "...we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Considering the zoo, since I have never been to prison, animals are trapped and put into a limited area confined by bars. Minus being trapped by God, due to free will, we are to be captive unto our Lord, our thoughts and actions included. Jesus desires for us to live the way He taught, he climbed up on the mountainside and said, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:14). When we reflect on these scriptures Oswald Chambers wrote, "The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose to be captives marching in the procession of Christ's triumphs" (My Utmost For His Highest: The Proper Perspective). Jesus is Lord and we are supposed to be shinning for Him all the times. Who's holding your prisoner?

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Kingsmen Fall

The Kingsmen took the field tonight in hopes of turning things around, but the First United Methodist stood in the way. The team did not go down quietly, but rather the Kingsmen made many defensive improvements. The offense was lacking, only scoring three runs in 55 minutes weakened our efforts. In the bottom of the first with two men on, J. Hellums hit a fielders choice, and C. Whitehead was able to score on the play. Other scoring, with two outs and no men on, J. Hellums chipped the ball to shallow center and took a single. Following J. Hellums was R. Rodriquez, Rodriquez pulled the ball to right field and soon after crossed the plate for an in the park homerun scoring two. That would be all the scoring the Kingsmen would bring to the game. We look forward to our final game on Tuesday and the double elimination tournament that will follow. This is J. Hellums reporting to you from Lockhart, TX.
Workout Number One Complete

WOW! I was advised by the J. Patterson legal team that I was unable to use the phrase, "Operation Ripped and Chiseled." Hence, the copyright issue, I simply completed Work Out Number One today! It was a good work out, but I didn't know that I was that out of shape. The Kingsmen take the field tonight at 8:00pm. We are currently on a large losing streak, maybe tonight we can break it. I am counting down the days until Game One. That is about it for now.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005


Game 6: Bye Bye Cards

Astros baby! Oh yeah. It only took 44 years and one more game to send the Astros to their first World Series, but did you doubt it. Well, that is all I have to say. Game One Saturday, tune in!

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Flowers for my Dear

The title is deceiving, but will play out. Stan and I are headed home from a gig and we pulled up to the traffic light at Interstate 35 and Highway 183. Rolling up to the light, we look into the right hand lane and we see a man throw something into a black car. At this point, Stan and I are clueless. We look up and realize that the white truck in front of the black car is unoccupied. The driver of the white truck is digging in his wallet to pay the rose vender on the curb. After giving the vender more cash, he purchases two more dozen roses and proceeds back to the black car. He swings the young lady's door open and pitches them at her. She then, grabs them and throws them on her dashboard. He jumps back in his pick-up and does not move when the light turns green. We hear horn honking. Now, I tell this story to illustrate: 1. the lack of respect men have for women; 2. don't fight in public, especially on the highway; 3. and how many people really thing that love and forgiveness can truly be bought. I am making some assumptions, but from the actions of the couple, they were fighting and he was attempting to make up. I consider the love of God and think that something was perverted in the attempt of forgiveness. I use the word perversion, as defined: to cause to turn aside or away from what is good or true or morally right. He did not have an attitude of forgiveness, he was just "buying" her off, if you will. Love cannot be bought, love comes from the Father above and upon the fall of man, we have been separated from that relationship. The good news is, through a relationship with Jesus Christ, we can experience that love and spend eternity with our Father in heaven. Well, I hope and pray that the couple made it to wherever they were headed, and if they don't know Christ, that they may come to a knowledge, of Jesus who said, "I am the way the truth, and the life..." (John 14:8). Have a great night.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Game Night

The Kingsmen (First Lockhart Baptist Softball Team) are ready to take the field. We seem to be still knocking the rust off, but I think tonight is our night. After starting a losing streak last Thursday, we will be starting at 7:00 intent on winning! Either way, it is great fun to fellowship and play ball with the men of my church. School went well today, in Chinese history, the year is 1912 and the Ch'ing Dynasty has just fallen. It is some interesting stuff, and to parallel it with other history around the world, neat to see what they were doing in the East. Wednesday night was a blessing, some of the kids wanted to chat, but I encouraged them otherwise. Numbers 21 reveals one of many moments where God gives His people an opportunity to redeem themselves. God sent redemption through His son Jesus Christ. His love is so great, that His son died on the cross, so that we might come to know our Father. Being disconnected in the garden, separated us from God, but Jesus intercedes on our behalf. It is a great picture of God's desire to have us seek after Him for eternal life. Look it up.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

It got Cold!

I did get cold, but I still wore shorts. I got to do some work this weekend. We did an installation at the Lockhart High School gym. At the same time, I listened to the new U2, finally! It is not a bad little album. I am sitting in a coffee shop, and a young lady just walked in with a vintage Astros jersey and reminded me that tonight Game 1 kicks off versus the St. Louis Cardinals. Go Astros! I went to Breakaway in College Station with Kari and heard Pastor Matt Chandler of the Village Church in Highland Park, TX. He is on fire and I look forward to hearing his sermons online. Kari and I went out to eat with her friends and got full on chips! What a bad feeling!!! I don't have too much more...Softball, Thursday night, double header! Yeppie. Ok. Out.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Thursday: Will it get cold?

That is not really what this post is about, but it is a thought. I know I went outside this morning expecting a chilled air and found the usual muggy Texas air. It will not ruin my day, but hopefully we will see some cool air soon. It seems there is some uproar in the Fantasy Football League I am in and there has been an attempt to expel me from the League. The attempt, as I call it, was unsuccessful, because whatever grievance the one disgruntled member had is no more. As I was waiting for my last class of the week this morning, I came across a statement in a book that I am reading. It reads as follows, "I didn't know that cool was just a myth and that one person was just as beautiful and meaningful as another" (104). The quote comes from Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What. After teaching the youth last night and considering there interaction as well as statements made to one another, this "cool" problem is a serious one. Too many times we seek after this recognition of "cool" from our peers. In these effort we place ourselves above one another (John 13:34). I think in this we are missing the point. God wants us to love one another, we fail when we treat people as if they are below us. We are all humans. We need to look past the hierarchy and see people for who they are. This truly is something that I hope to live out in the journey known as life. That is all I have for today.

Monday, October 03, 2005

October Already

It seems like only Friday that it was September and here we are on the flip side and it is October! We are now in the fourth and last quarter of the year, for all you business minded people. I am sure cold weather is around the corner, but it I am sure it won't me too cold, it is Texas. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were filled with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Expo. I worked about 40 hours this weekend, and sweated a bucket full. I am sure you wanted to know that. If you have never been, put it on your calendar, first weekend of October 2006. There is a show I highly recommend, the Birds of Prey. The show consists of Hawks, Owls, and many more birds that have been rescued and or taken to these people who take care of the birds. It is delightfully informative and just the sheer beauty of the hawks is wonderful. I am a little slow on the step today, but I am ready to go to class. Say a pray for my bro, JMob and his family. That is all I have for now.