MOVING DAY >>>>>

Apparently, thehalpinatorisdead. I'm moving from blogger to wordpress, and I'm totally changing my blogging "strategy" (for lack of a better word). Join me at my new site, and if you happen to link to this site, please change your links. The blogger site will remain open for a while for the sake of archives. I'm not importing anything over to wordpress.

halpinsblog.wordpress.com

I FEEL LIKE AN ARTIST...

I feel like an artist. I have this strange desire to create some kind of art. I want to write music, I want to paint pictures, I want to write poetry, I want capture everyday life into any kind of artistic venue available. I want to create something that is meaningul. Something that speaks. Something that people enjoy. Something that honors God. The problem is that I don't know how.

I sit down and try write out song lyrics or poetry, but words don't come out. I can't really paint or draw well. I have pictures in my head, but they don't translate from my head to my hand and onto paper. I can play my guitar okay, but, again, I have a problem with fitting the rhythms with lyrics.

So this sucks because I have a strange, deep desire to create something. It's almost a yearning. But this yearning is just not manifesting itself through my vain attempts at artistic endeavors.

Right now the best I can is to pray this prayer....

"God, help me to live life in such a way that expresses the beauty of your grace and your forgiveness, the beauty of your creation, the beauty of your love. I want to live a life that is artistic, that is meaningful, that shows people who you are. A life that honors You. A life filled with your love. God, give me the courage to take advantage of every second of every day, to experience the joy of life, to offer myself to You. I don't have long, Lord. Let me live with truth, with peace, with grace, and with uncompromising love. May my life be a song, a painting, a poem, a drama that speaks of Your unending faithfulness. May You receive everything that is good, and may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May Your will be carried through in my life. May others see You through my song."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!

September 22 at the Smirnoff center in Dallas, my wife and I are going to see THE Dave Matthews Band in concert. Thus, I will be able to check off one of the top five artists that I want to see live. It's been too long since I've been to a great concert. To jam with Dave, click here.

P.S.
For a daily update on how little Sam is doing, see the bottom of my web page. Right now, s/he's about 9 weeks old. We find out if it's a boy or girl relatively soon. We can't wait until February!!!

GOD, I LOVE CHICKEN N' DUMPLINS

My wife makes outstanding chicken n' dumplins. I ate them. They were excellent. My mouth celebrated.

And also I want to see Ratatouille (spelling?).

APPARENTLY I AM IN CAHOOTS WITH A CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION OF ANTI-CHRIST...

Yes. I may in fact be in cahoots with the anti-Christ. I am advertising him on my blog. Scroll down to the bottom of my page and look at the bottom link on the right-hand side. Then click this and look at number 4. That's right. Barack Obama is number four on the possible anti-Christ watch list.

Number 4.


What do I do now? Who do I vote for? I can't vote for Hillary. She's number two.


I can't vote for Gulianni. He's a pro-choice Republican. (cough, cough: Satan in disguise)


Maybe I can vote for Ron Paul!
no... he's against the war in Iraq.


I don't know what to do now. I thought I was doing okay by voting for a Christian Democrat, Barack Obama, but apparently he might be the anti-Christ.


OH! OF COURSE!!


I can vote for the anti-gay, anti-evolution, pro-war, ordained evangelical minister and REPUBLICAN candidate MIKE HUCKABEE even though he doesn't have any shot of winning the presidency whatsoever!!! I can go to heaven now because I'll be persecuted for my beliefs!!! YIPPEE!

Sorry Barack. You're a Muslim. And your name sounds too much like "Osama."

LOVE THE SINNER, HATE THE SIN?

Scot McNight has some excellent thoughts on how Christians should/should not treat the homosexual community. He communicates well that the soundbite "Love the sinner, Hate the sin" seems to do more harm than good. When we talk about homosexuality, we often forget that we're dealing with people, and, honestly, Christians can treat the homosexual community like garbage when we act like homosexuality is only a black and white moral issue. Maybe homosexuality is a "sin," but we have to remember to treat all people with respect and dignity. When a homosexual hears "love the sinner, hate the sin," they will generally hear a message of hate rather than love. I agree with Scot that this phrase needs to be done away with. How about this? - "Love people, regardless." Please, read his post and browse through some of the comments right now. It will be worth your time.

STUDYING IS FUN, BUT ONLY WHEN I DON'T HAVE TO DO IT...

I love learning and I love to study, especially when we're talking about Biblical literature. It literally changes my life. The only problem is that I have to do it right now (test tomorrow that I'm just now studying for). I want so bad to soak this stuff up, but I am having the darndest time trying to concentrate right now (possibly because I'm blogging rather than doing what I'm supposed to be doing right now?). I am never taking summer school again. It's way too compressed and stressful. I'm just not getting much out of it. With Cold Play rocking in the background of Common Grounds (Waco coffee shop), I would think that I would be able to stay focused (Cold Play has such an affect on my brain), but I just can't. I'm exhuasted from school. A break is needed!

Okay, okay, I'll stop whining and get back to work.

geez....

FIRST, THERE WAS DARK SIDE OF THE MOON AND THE WIZARD OF OZ, AND THEN CAME 'THE MONTGOMERY REDEMPTION'

APPARENTLY I LOOK LIKE THESE FAMOUS PEOPLE...

THIS IS BLOGWORTHY...

Well I haven't blogged in like three months, but I finally found something that's blogworthy....

I'm going to be a dad!!! Shari is due sometime in early February to late January. We're thinking about the Sam - Sammy Luke for a boy and Samantha Lynn for a girl. We'll see if we change our minds or not. Not that anybody's reading my blog lately (for good reason), but what do you think about the names?

WHEN YOU CAN'T SLEEP... TRY POETRY.

This is my sad attempt at poetry at 3 in the morning when I can't sleep...
Before you get too critical, please realize that I wrote this in 15 minutes. And it was late. And I don't write poetry. Nor do I read poetry. This is new for me.


Is this what I am?
Pushing and probing and prodding?
Am I without a hope or a faith?
Am I some wanderer who has lost his way?

Some men believe that I am.

Is this what I am?
Taking my questions
and plaguing those men
with atrocities of sulfur and ash?
Am I so foreign? Am I so strange?

But I am a man. This is all that I am.
I have no such power or luck.
If I may seek all who I am
I may find who I am to be truth.
I may find who I am to be peace.

On the other hand...

What if who I am was no such animal?
What if who I am was a fluke?

The atrocities of such an idea are...
Unimaginable.
Who I am might smite what I am.

But what if the best thing I did
was to take what I am
and keep prodding and probing and pushing?
What if the best thing I did was to keep moving on
and let those men say what they might?

Then would I become all that I am?
Or would who I am just shove me aside?

Through all of
these questions
and struggles
and hopes
and fears
one thing is clear:
I am not who I am.

And while we're at it
neither are you.

THIS IS HOLY WRIT, FOLKS...

I love the humanity of scripture. Too often, we forget that people wrote the Bible. In I Cor. 1.14-17, we can see Paul getting anxious to get at his point. Here's what it says in the King James...

I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

Now, I'm going to take some interpretive liberties, here, and I'm going to offer the version according Marc:

In fact, I thank God that I didn't have to baptize any of you so that no one can say that you were baptized into my name. Well, I didn't baptize anyone except Crispus and Gaius.
Oh, and now that I think about it I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I'm pretty sure I didn't baptize anyone else.
But that's not the point! For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel....

I love this little excerpt because we can totally see Paul thinking out loud. Most likely, he would have dictated his letters as someone wrote for him, and I love that we can almost see his thought process coming through in the letter.

I love that we can see the human aspect of scripture. We don't have to be afraid of the fact that God didn't dictate the Bible. To me, it's just incredibly neat that God used a guy like Paul to write some of the most influential literature of all time. And it's neat to see how God works through real people in real situations.