Happy birthday wishes to:
my sister-in-law, Lacey!!
and my father, I love you!
sorry these were so late getting to the web. but i love you both!!
18 December 2006
07 November 2006
god hates shrimp?
so i ran across this site and i could not believe what i saw. okay, i could believe it, but that doesn't mean i wanted to. it's stuff like this that makes me understand why people have such an aversion to anyone who calls themself a Christian.
if you go to the site, you'll see people holding signs in protest that read "God Hates Shrimp!" and next to them, you'll see them holding up signs protesting gays. now, i'm not 100% sure as to whether or not this is supposed to be a serious site, or a funny one, but either way, i don't find it funny. no wonder non-believers view christians as arrogant and unloving. how are we showing people God's love by telling them He hates something?! news flash: God does not hate shrimp. yes, in the old testament, he commanded the jews not to eat shrimp. he also commanded them not to eat pork, and not to eat a lot of other things. there were even commands about how to wash your hands and things you had to do if you came in contact with a dead animal, and lots of other things. my question is, why harp on shrimp?
my in-laws are messianic. that means they believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but they choose to follow all the old jewish customs. they don't eat shrimp, or pork. but they also don't enforce on all christians that the way they do it is the only right way. i mean, come on, people! what really matters here? does it matter that all people not eat shellfish, or does it matter that we are supposed to show the whole world Christ's love? doesn't it matter that at the heart of everything, that at the core of our faith, we believe the same thing? shouldn't the only thing that truly matters is our belief that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that He conquered death when He rose from the dead, and that He is the only way we can be saved? how will the world know how wonderful and awesome our Savior is if we keep ridiculing everything thing they do or believe?
here's something else that has been on my mind recently. what if instead of calling others names and making fun of them, whether they can hear us or not, we extended love and grace and mercy to them? what if we accepted them, just as they are, the way Christ accepts us, dirty and filthy with nothing to offer? what if we treated homosexuals as equally sinners, just as dirty as we are with our own performances and unfaithfulness to our Savior? what if we talked to them as a normal human being, asking how their life is, instead of condemning them and acting like we are better than them? because, in all actuality, if they aren't believers, they have no obligation to do what is right. because we as believers aren't better than them, we are worse than them, because we know what is right and still don't do it. i know i need to not do certain things, or need to do certain things, and while fully knowing what course of action is asked, no, required of me, i choose to follow my own selfish ambitions. when did it become okay for christians to condemn people? if there is no condemnation in Christ, where did we get permission to do that? it is not our job as believers to change people, because you know what, we can't change people. God is the only person who can change a person.
God deosn't hate homesexuals, or murderers, or rapists, or theives, or any other sinner(that means everyone). God created us. God also created shrimp. He loves us, he doesn't hate us. He doesn't hate anything he created. sin is sin. period. in some people, their sin is just more evident to people at a glance. but we are all sinners. every last one of us. believers and non-believers. young and old, male and female. we need to stop jumping all over each other, stop making fun of each other, stop bruising each other, and stop treating others as if they have the plague.
a common saying in Christian circles is "hate the sin, not the sinner". while i believe that we should hate sin and not people, we still need to love and accept people just as they are. instead of only hating the sin in other people, we should first hate the sin in our own lives, before we worry about hating sin in other people's lives. i know for me, if i follow my own advice, it will probably take me my entire life to hate my own sin, all of my own sin. that's why i've decided that i'm not even going to bother with trying to hate the sin in other people's lives. the only sin i should be concerned with is my own, or if i see one of my brothers or sisters living blatantly in sin. but i'm still supposed to first and foremost love them. sorry if i'm being redundant here, but this is something that's been on my heart for a long, long time, and i want to make sure i'm communicating it correctly. please let me know what you think. or let me know if something wasn't clear.
i'm going to stop now before i exhaust myself and get myslef too worked up(though it may be a little late for that).
if you go to the site, you'll see people holding signs in protest that read "God Hates Shrimp!" and next to them, you'll see them holding up signs protesting gays. now, i'm not 100% sure as to whether or not this is supposed to be a serious site, or a funny one, but either way, i don't find it funny. no wonder non-believers view christians as arrogant and unloving. how are we showing people God's love by telling them He hates something?! news flash: God does not hate shrimp. yes, in the old testament, he commanded the jews not to eat shrimp. he also commanded them not to eat pork, and not to eat a lot of other things. there were even commands about how to wash your hands and things you had to do if you came in contact with a dead animal, and lots of other things. my question is, why harp on shrimp?
my in-laws are messianic. that means they believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but they choose to follow all the old jewish customs. they don't eat shrimp, or pork. but they also don't enforce on all christians that the way they do it is the only right way. i mean, come on, people! what really matters here? does it matter that all people not eat shellfish, or does it matter that we are supposed to show the whole world Christ's love? doesn't it matter that at the heart of everything, that at the core of our faith, we believe the same thing? shouldn't the only thing that truly matters is our belief that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that He conquered death when He rose from the dead, and that He is the only way we can be saved? how will the world know how wonderful and awesome our Savior is if we keep ridiculing everything thing they do or believe?
here's something else that has been on my mind recently. what if instead of calling others names and making fun of them, whether they can hear us or not, we extended love and grace and mercy to them? what if we accepted them, just as they are, the way Christ accepts us, dirty and filthy with nothing to offer? what if we treated homosexuals as equally sinners, just as dirty as we are with our own performances and unfaithfulness to our Savior? what if we talked to them as a normal human being, asking how their life is, instead of condemning them and acting like we are better than them? because, in all actuality, if they aren't believers, they have no obligation to do what is right. because we as believers aren't better than them, we are worse than them, because we know what is right and still don't do it. i know i need to not do certain things, or need to do certain things, and while fully knowing what course of action is asked, no, required of me, i choose to follow my own selfish ambitions. when did it become okay for christians to condemn people? if there is no condemnation in Christ, where did we get permission to do that? it is not our job as believers to change people, because you know what, we can't change people. God is the only person who can change a person.
God deosn't hate homesexuals, or murderers, or rapists, or theives, or any other sinner(that means everyone). God created us. God also created shrimp. He loves us, he doesn't hate us. He doesn't hate anything he created. sin is sin. period. in some people, their sin is just more evident to people at a glance. but we are all sinners. every last one of us. believers and non-believers. young and old, male and female. we need to stop jumping all over each other, stop making fun of each other, stop bruising each other, and stop treating others as if they have the plague.
a common saying in Christian circles is "hate the sin, not the sinner". while i believe that we should hate sin and not people, we still need to love and accept people just as they are. instead of only hating the sin in other people, we should first hate the sin in our own lives, before we worry about hating sin in other people's lives. i know for me, if i follow my own advice, it will probably take me my entire life to hate my own sin, all of my own sin. that's why i've decided that i'm not even going to bother with trying to hate the sin in other people's lives. the only sin i should be concerned with is my own, or if i see one of my brothers or sisters living blatantly in sin. but i'm still supposed to first and foremost love them. sorry if i'm being redundant here, but this is something that's been on my heart for a long, long time, and i want to make sure i'm communicating it correctly. please let me know what you think. or let me know if something wasn't clear.
i'm going to stop now before i exhaust myself and get myslef too worked up(though it may be a little late for that).
31 October 2006
to my beloved...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!!!
i am so blessed to have you in my life!! you are the most wonderful man i could have ever asked for! i am so lucky that i get to spend another one of your birthdays with you! have a happy day!!
i am so blessed to have you in my life!! you are the most wonderful man i could have ever asked for! i am so lucky that i get to spend another one of your birthdays with you! have a happy day!!
new 'do
so i got my haircut today. i've been wanting to get it cut for quite some time now. i was really nervous, but at the same time very excited. see, i found a short haircut that i likes, thought was cute, and also thought matched my personality. the thing is, i haven't had short hair since the fifth grade. i know, right? it's about time! but i am also a little attached to my hair. everyone tells me how beautiful my long hair is. but i decided to go ahead and get it cut. the girl who did it did an awesome job. check it out:
my new 'do from the front, taken inside the salon....
.....and a view from the back.
this is most of my hair that was cut off.
and here i am, in the car, loving the rock 'n' roll!!!
let me know what you think of the new style!!
my new 'do from the front, taken inside the salon....
.....and a view from the back.
this is most of my hair that was cut off.
and here i am, in the car, loving the rock 'n' roll!!!
let me know what you think of the new style!!
17 October 2006
05 September 2006
i have a job!!!
in case you couldn't tell from the title.....
I HAVE A JOB!!! IN MY FIELD!!!!
i am the producer/director for the highland park scots varsity football radio broadcasts! the first game was saturday, and it went fairly well. it was part of the Tom Landry Classic, so it was kind of a weird game, production wise. it started late, ran late, and we were having all sorts of technical issues. but all in all i think it came off very well.
this is the first year they are having radio broadcasts for the games. it's also the first time i've ever had this exact position. sure, in college i did some remote sports production, but i was the audio operator, not the director. i was baptized by fire, if you will. i'm very glad it was a wierd game for my first one, because if i can handle that fiarly well(which i think i did), then the rest of the season shouldn't be so hard.
as far as what i'll be doing after football season, i don't know. but i do know that this is a great launching pad for me. i've been trying to get a production job for over two years and it finally happened. the Lord is so good! and since this is only a friday night gig, i can still get a part-time job somewhere else during the week! i'm so happy!
I HAVE A JOB!!! IN MY FIELD!!!!
i am the producer/director for the highland park scots varsity football radio broadcasts! the first game was saturday, and it went fairly well. it was part of the Tom Landry Classic, so it was kind of a weird game, production wise. it started late, ran late, and we were having all sorts of technical issues. but all in all i think it came off very well.
this is the first year they are having radio broadcasts for the games. it's also the first time i've ever had this exact position. sure, in college i did some remote sports production, but i was the audio operator, not the director. i was baptized by fire, if you will. i'm very glad it was a wierd game for my first one, because if i can handle that fiarly well(which i think i did), then the rest of the season shouldn't be so hard.
as far as what i'll be doing after football season, i don't know. but i do know that this is a great launching pad for me. i've been trying to get a production job for over two years and it finally happened. the Lord is so good! and since this is only a friday night gig, i can still get a part-time job somewhere else during the week! i'm so happy!
01 September 2006
happy happy birthday
today is my sister's birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIJA!!!!
i hope you get plenty of rest and do whatever the hell you want to!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIJA!!!!
i hope you get plenty of rest and do whatever the hell you want to!
28 August 2006
moving in (almost)
the apartment is done!!!!!
almost.
everything is built, painted and carpeted, with the exception of bookshelves in the half-walls. the only thing left is the electricity. that still needs to be hooked up. and hopefully that will be happening this weekend.
now what you've all been waiting for. pictures of the new pad.
first, the "front door" to the apartment throught the laundry room (which i recently mixed a color for and painted).
next is the bedroom. we have sheets and throw pillows with the dark and light brown, and found paint to match almost exactly.
next is a closer look at the ceiling fan in the bedroom. the one in the living room is the same, but the blades are reversed to the red wood. oh yeah, and the painter's tape has been removed(the bedroom picture above has no painter's tape in it).
now the living room
now a look at our walk-in closet
yes, it is orange. and it's my favorite room in the apartment. here's an inside look
the white shelving goes nicely with the orange, i think.
so anyway, there is our new pad. i'm really pleased with the way the painting turned out. enjoy!
almost.
everything is built, painted and carpeted, with the exception of bookshelves in the half-walls. the only thing left is the electricity. that still needs to be hooked up. and hopefully that will be happening this weekend.
now what you've all been waiting for. pictures of the new pad.
first, the "front door" to the apartment throught the laundry room (which i recently mixed a color for and painted).
next is the bedroom. we have sheets and throw pillows with the dark and light brown, and found paint to match almost exactly.
next is a closer look at the ceiling fan in the bedroom. the one in the living room is the same, but the blades are reversed to the red wood. oh yeah, and the painter's tape has been removed(the bedroom picture above has no painter's tape in it).
now the living room
now a look at our walk-in closet
yes, it is orange. and it's my favorite room in the apartment. here's an inside look
the white shelving goes nicely with the orange, i think.
so anyway, there is our new pad. i'm really pleased with the way the painting turned out. enjoy!
23 August 2006
birthday
i just wanted to say....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABBEY!!
hope you get to enjoy today and relax with your beautiful family!
i miss you!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABBEY!!
hope you get to enjoy today and relax with your beautiful family!
i miss you!!
21 August 2006
news
i'm an aunt!! again!! Killian Elijah Rudd was born on august 17, and is as perfect as can be. check out my sister's blog for photos and all the stats. Killian, your aunt katie and uncle josh can't wait to see you!!!
in other news, the apartment is nearing completion. all the walls are painted, carpet is put down, and most of the baseboard is in. the last things are building the shelves in the closet and half-walls, putting in closet rods and baseboards in the closet, then hooking up the electrical. now that the carpet is put down, we can go ahead and move in some of our stuff; like our tv, futon, chair, that sort of thing. hopefully the last few things won't take too long and we can be completely moved in there!! oh, to have our own space again!! so happy!!
other interesting happenings at the house, we have a mink. yes, the kind coats are made out of. no, not as a pet. actually, this little mink has been killing off the chickens. we've lost 15 birds in less than two weeks. the game warden came out today, so hopefully we'll finally catch the little thing. pretty as anything, but when he's killed about half your flock, time to take action.
in other news, my church has started a grief support recovery group. it started this past wednesday, and i went. it was really good. it's led by a guy who works at the center for christian counseling here in north texas, and it was really neat. everyone there has a different story. i'm going back this week and plan to keep going back.
nothing concrete on the job front, but i may be getting an interview to do some high school football remote shoots. we'll see. i think it'd be a lot of fun, but who knows.
that's it for now. more to come soon!
in other news, the apartment is nearing completion. all the walls are painted, carpet is put down, and most of the baseboard is in. the last things are building the shelves in the closet and half-walls, putting in closet rods and baseboards in the closet, then hooking up the electrical. now that the carpet is put down, we can go ahead and move in some of our stuff; like our tv, futon, chair, that sort of thing. hopefully the last few things won't take too long and we can be completely moved in there!! oh, to have our own space again!! so happy!!
other interesting happenings at the house, we have a mink. yes, the kind coats are made out of. no, not as a pet. actually, this little mink has been killing off the chickens. we've lost 15 birds in less than two weeks. the game warden came out today, so hopefully we'll finally catch the little thing. pretty as anything, but when he's killed about half your flock, time to take action.
in other news, my church has started a grief support recovery group. it started this past wednesday, and i went. it was really good. it's led by a guy who works at the center for christian counseling here in north texas, and it was really neat. everyone there has a different story. i'm going back this week and plan to keep going back.
nothing concrete on the job front, but i may be getting an interview to do some high school football remote shoots. we'll see. i think it'd be a lot of fun, but who knows.
that's it for now. more to come soon!