Taste and See

I came accross the following statement, and wonder if according to Pres. Rooselvelt one could both be a Christ follower and a good American.
"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." - T Roosevelt – 1907

iWorry

Everywhere you look you see the ubiquitous little white box attached to someone's head via little tiny white strings, (I am no exception). In response to the popularity and pervasiveness of this small device, I've developed a fear that one day I will show up ready to discuss revelation from God, only to see a sea of people with their ears plugged with small white circles. Maybe this sea will only be desiring music to accompany my teaching, (I've always thought that I sounded more profound with music playing over/under my voice), and will have the volume turned to recommended levels that allow the user to hear conversation, and thus instruction.

I always thought that it was an empty fear, and that I would never see it come to pass...In Community on Sunday though, it happened...as I was leading our gathering in an exploration of God as judge, I noticed two small boys' heads were connected by the feared thin white cord. At least they were awake.

mourning a waterfall

One of my favorite places to visit and sit in Ojai is off a small private road in the east end. Situated just past an orange grove is a small creek that runs down the mountains. You have to drive on a road marked "property owners and their guests only," but somehow that never bothered me much. After driving up this private road you park off to the side and walk along an unmarked dirt path for about 5 minutes before you hear the crashing of water to your right over some bushes. After brushing the bushes aside you see an amazing waterfall pouring off of rocks about 30 feet high, into a small "bowl", which then flows into another small pond before continuing down the creek. Some of my best high school memories are swimming in the bowl, jumping off of the waterfall, or just sitting on one of large boulders near by.

Today, I decided that my oldest daughter was old enough to go and see "the waterfall". I told her that we were going to go and see a waterfall and she kept repeating "oh boy! waterfall" over and over. Our family loaded up in the car and drove to the "trail head" only to discover barbed wire, no tresspassing signs, and a newly planted orchard of some kind (no visible fruit). I actually don't know how long the orchard, signs, or barbed wire have been there, as I haven't even visited the waterfall in at least 5 years. Despite my prolonged absence, I kind of liked just knowing that it was there...it made Ojai that much more special to me. On the car ride home I was feeling a little crushed, as I got home I just plain started feeling depressed. It's really sad to me that someone "owns" this amazing haven, and hard for to me to swallow that I'll never be able to take my daughters to see it and enjoy it with me. Now I'm kinda on a mission to find the owners and see about getting permission...we'll see...

Is it Good to Live in Fear?

Word Cloud

I went to snapshirts.com entered in Community's blogsite's address, and this is the "word cloud" that it created based on the words used. I think it's a great picture of our community.

Obedient Children

QUESTIONS:
1. How does being identified as an “obedient Child” affect the way you think about yourself?
2. How would it be different if you were identified as “Chrsitian”?
“Saint”?
“Holy one”
3. How are you motivated?
4. What does being Holy mean to you?